The Snakes in Guise
by Kira the DaySlayer
Summary: Common story with a major twist. The Golden Trio, due to various reasons, are dark Slytherins to the core. A story about what happens in their first year. Has some naughty language and dark themes! Pre-threesome ?  Future Trio-ship.
1. Chapter 1, The Snakes in Guise

The Snakes in Guise

Genre: Angst, Adventure

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter he would not be such a walk over and Voldemort wouldn't be such an idiot. Ergo I don't own Harry Potter. Oh and I might have stolen some of the lines here from the books (shifty eyes) I'll let you ponder which ones.

Warning(s): Dark (not Evil) and Slytherin Harry/Hermione/Ron, Good Draco, Bad Voldie, some bad langue

Summary: Common story with a major twist. The Golden Trio, due to various reasons, are dark Slytherins to the core.

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

***PAGEBREAK***

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started. Harry thought he hated the Dursleys' before, now he despised them.

There was no hiding from the fact now, Harry was different. He could talk to snakes, of course he was different! Looking back Harry came to the conclusion that the Dursleys knew, or suspected, that he was different. If they knew it meant all those times he had been punished he really HAD done those things.

Harry scowled as he sniffed the air. His _new _uniform was soaking in the sink and it smelt horrible.

Of course the Dursleys hated him they wanted to be the picture of normal and he was different. How different he didn't know yet though.

They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the post Dudley," said Uncle Vernon.

Dudley scowled and Harry sighed as he stood up. He knew he would end up getting the post anyway and decided it was not worth the fight.

Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wright, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and _– a letter for Harry_.

_**Mr H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs**_

_**4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

Harry turned the letter over and saw the wax seal was purple bearing a coat of arms; a lion, and eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter –bombs?"

Harry scowled and shoved his letter into his pocket. There was no way he would let the Dursleys take his letter.

After giving the Dursleys their mail he left the house to sit in his favourite spot. The spot was a grassy area that over looked most of the suburban area that contained Privet Drive. Smiling as he looked over the houses Harry took out his letter. He was surprised to note no return address. He slipped it open.

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on the 1**__**September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall**_

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

Harry couldn't believe what he had just read. Wizards? That actually explained a lot. He reread the letter. So it was a school that taught magic, he was interested in this. But what did it mean by owl? How was he supposed to send his letter?

It was two days later before Harry decided to simply send a letter saying Hogwarts School with his response. After all he had nothing to lose by doing so and no other ideas. (1)

***PAGEBREAK***

_**Dear Mrs McGonagall,**_

_**I hope this letter will reach you but I have my doubts.**_

_**I'm afraid that I have not had any prior knowledge of Witchcraft or Wizardry. I hope this will not hinder my placement at your school as I am eager to learn. I also have no knowledge as to where and how I will purchase any school equipment. May a representative of your school please meet with me at my residence to explain things properly?**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Harry Potter**_

***PAGEBREAK***

It was the morning of his birthday when Harry awoke to a loud knocking on his cupboard door. He opened it to find a shaking purple-faced Vernon.

"You have a guest," he spat out before turning and storming to the kitchen.

Harry just smiled and went to the front door where a curious, rather large, cheerful woman with light purple hair and matching robes blinked at him.

"Bless my eyes its Harry Potter," the woman smiled good-naturedly and shook his hand.

"Yes, are you Mrs McGonagall?" Harry asked politely.

"Good lord no," She tittered, "I'm Professor Sprout, I teach Herbology at Hogwarts. I was shocked to find out that you knew nothing of your heritage. Did your family not know how to tell you?"

"My RELATIVES," he started coolly, stressing relatives to emphasise that they were not his family, "thought that beating the magic from me would work and never told me about it."

Professor Sprout eyes narrowed, "Perhaps I better speak to your Guardians quickly before we continue this chat somewhere else then?"

Harry nodded taking in her change in demeanour. He guessed that she had some experience in these things.

"If that is what you feel is best," he said tonelessly.

"Can you go pack your things for me Harry?" she asked.

Harry nodded as he ran to his cupboard. He didn't want to stay in this house another second. Throwing his small amount of hand-me-down clothes and his school things into his backpack he ran back to the door.

Seconds later Professor Sprout appeared smiling in front of him.

"Come on Harry let's get you to Hogwarts," she sang smiling.

Harry couldn't stop himself smiling back.

***PAGEBREAK***

(1) I'm assuming the muggle post is monitored and this will work. I mean how else did Petunia manage to send a letter to Dumbledore in the seventh book?

Next Chapter will be Hermione and Ron's childhoods.

I work (therefore post) quicker with reviews to inspire me!


	2. Chapter 2, Blue Bear

Chapter 2, Blue Bear

Genre: Angst, Adventure

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter he would not be such a walk over and Voldemort wouldn't be such an idiot. Ergo I don't own Harry Potter.

Warning(s): Dark (not Evil) and Slytherin Harry/Hermione/Ron, Good Draco, Bad Voldie, some bad language

Summary: Common story with a major twist. The Golden Trio, due to various reasons, are dark Slytherins to the core.

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

***PAGEBREAK***

The sixth year Alexander's Primary School class were learning to sew. (1) Hermione Granger at first thought that this class would be horrible however she tried her hardest. Surprisingly she was enjoying sowing and was progressing well.

A week into the classes saw the class designing and creating their own toys. Hermione wanted to challenge herself by creating something rather big. She had never really had a stuffed toy before and wanted a teddy bear to hug when her parents were fighting.

Her teddy bear was about the length of her torso with long legs and arms. Soft blue velvety fur covered its body. She had even gone far enough to put four little teeth in the mouth. Her class mates came up to her to coo over her bear. Some even asked for help. As a girl with on friends Hermione couldn't stop smiling.

Soon class was over and Hermione grabbed her bear to go to the library. She was disappointed that she had no one to eat lunch with but at least she had people to talk to now.

On her way to the library she was stopped by three boys.

"Granger," the biggest one spat, "you think you're all that. Strutting around like you own the place, you're nothing but a teacher's pet."

His cronies nodded in support and leered. Hermione hugged her bear closer to her.

"I need to go to the library," she mumbled as she tried to pass them.

One of the boys stood in the way and pushed her back. She fell and landed on a nail that was sticking out of a wooden plank. She screamed as the nail imbedded itself in the back of her left shoulder.

"Shit lets go," one of the boys swore and they ran off.

Hermione whimpered and eased herself off the nail. Looking down she could see a lot of blood. Panic course through her veins and suddenly the pain was gone. Reaching back to hurt her shoulder she found it unharmed if very bloody.

Stumbling to the girl's bathrooms she tried to understand what had happened. She looked around before taking off her shirt. They was a tear in it and lots of blood but her shoulder was unmarked. How could such a deep wound just disappear?

Hermione heard the bell ring and quickly washed the blood from her shoulder and her uniform. Taking a deep breath she pulled the wet garment on. She shuddered at the cold touch of it pressed against her skin.

With a brief flash of inspiration she tried to conjure panic and direct it at her uniform. Slowly she felt the fear build up in her mind and gave out a little yelp when her uniform was suddenly very warm and dry.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. She was different, powerful. She smirked suddenly. God were those boys going to be surprised. She laughed loudly as she skipped to class clutching her new bear.

When she knocked on the door the teacher looked surprised but let her in without question. Sparing a glance at the bullies' direction she saw three pale white faces. Fighting to keep a straight face she glared hatefully at them. She nearly slipped up when they all flinched.

"I'm so sorry Miss," Hermione chirped, "I lost my bear and couldn't find it."

"Well I'll overlook it this time."

Hermione beamed brightly.

***PAGEBREAK***

"Hermione how did you tear your shirt?" Hermione's mum asked from the laundry.

"I slipped and fell," she replied hastily.

"Are you okay?"

Hermione smirked, "Absolutely perfect."

Hermione sat cross legged in the middle of her privet bathroom with her bear in her lap and a knife in front of her. She picked up the knife and softly pressed it to her skin. Biting back a sob she concentrated hard on healing the wound with her mind. Just as before the pain and the cut suddenly disappeared.

Over her life Hermione had noticed odd things happening around her but she never connected them to herself or think she could control them. Events like when an out of control barbeque fire suddenly went out and a bully mysteriously finding themself hanging by the underwear on a coat rack made sense.

A loud shout startled Hermione out of her thoughts.

"You whore! I can't believe I married you!" Her father yelled.

Hermione walked over to the basin and washed her wrist and the knife.

"ME! HOW DID I MARRY YOU? YOU ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO DICTATE ME AT WORK AND WALK AROUND LIKE YOU ARE BETTER THAN EVERYONE!" Her mother screamed in reply.

Hermione quickly grabbed her blue bear and leapt into bed. Hiding under the covers she tried to ignore her parents fighting as they shouted over each other. She clutched the bear tightly to her chest. It was easier than trying to read.

Sighing Hermione tried to use her new powers to turn off the light. It took a long time, way after her father had left for the pub and her mum went to her room to cry. By the time the light clicked off, almost by itself, Hermione was crying and holding her bear tightly.

***PAGEBREAK***

(1) I imagine the school being small and upper class somehow. Maybe a privet school. Mmmm...

WIZARD WROCK!

This chapter turned out shorter and more sad than I expected.

I hope you like it! PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3, Burrowing the Past

Chapter 3, Burrowing the Past

Genre: Angst, Adventure

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter he would not be such a walk over and Voldemort wouldn't be such an idiot. Ergo I don't own Harry Potter.

Warning(s): Dark (not Evil) and Slytherin Harry/Hermione/Ron, Good Draco, Bad Voldie, some bad language

Summary: Common story with a major twist. The Golden Trio, due to various reasons, are dark Slytherins to the core.

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

***PAGEBREAK***

Ron Weasley's life was changed in one simple day. He watched someone die. No it wasn't his mother or father or even a distant cousin, it was a teenage muggle. Hell Ron hadn't even really been able to see it properly until he approached the still figure.

The boy had been attacked on the outskirts of the muggle village near by the Burrow. No warning just a single stab and then dead. It could have happened to anyone. As the attacker ran away whooping Ron Weasley realised that everybody dies. He had always known it but was never fully real before that day, before it was just a story told to scare him.

As he approached the dead teen he could hear his own heart beat in his ears. He could feel his chest constricting. Ron let out a harsh breath as stopped about two meters from the boy. His legs wouldn't work. He was too scared of getting nearer to the body, that death might be contagious.

A small muggle boy of about ten saw him so Ron called out.

"Get someone, he's dead!"

The small boy nodded and ran away. Ron turned and left for the Burrow all the while trying to process what had just happened. He tried to reason his fear of the harmless dead body.

Lying in his warm bed he noticed that he was still shaking. In one day Ron had developed a fear of dying. He wasn't even at school yet, nowhere near ready to die. And from that fear Ron started to change his behaviour. He started to analyse possible threats and escapes every time he entered a room. He became more withdrawn and quite, preferring to watch his surrounds then be the centre of attention.

Ron redecorated his room. He took down most of the Cudley Cannon's gear and put it away in his cupboard. They were still his favourite team by having that much stuff everywhere was a fire hazard. Now his very neat, almost empty room was up to his new standards he delighted himself with the frivolity of changing the colours of his room; the walls were grey, all wood was black and his carpet, bed and lamp were bright yellow.

There was also a large coil of rope tied to his window that went without comment until one day, a few months out from Hogwarts letters, when he caught his mother looking at it closely.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Just tiding up your room, dear. Do you need the rope still?" his mother asked overtly cheerful.

Ron eye's narrowed, "Yes."

His mother very casually pressed further, "And what are you using it for?"

"It's a ladder. Do you know that our house has no fire escapes? It's very unsafe," Ron said sitting down on his bed with a text book stolen from one of his other brothers.

Molly Weasley nodded unsurely as if she didn't believe him. "Reading again?" (1)

"Yes mum," Ron sighed, "I'm starting the second year course spells."

His mother nodded unsurely but simply continued to find a fault in the perfectly tidy room. Ron ignored her in favour of his book.

When she got to the cupboard Molly exclaimed, "Don't you like the Cannons anymore?"

Ron looked up with raised eyebrows, "Yeah."

"Then why is everything just shoved in your cupboard, Ron Weasley?"

"Because it clutters everything up. I like the Cannons but I have more important use for my room then being a shrine to their players," Ron said with a huff turning back to his book.

Ron looked up as his mother as she sat beside him looking down in concern, "If anything is bothering you, you can always talk to me and your father about it."

Ron smirked, "Nothing is wrong I've just had a change of heart and grown up a bit. Mum, don't worry."

Mrs Weasley smiled and pinched one of Ron's cheeks, "I'm a mother; it's my job to worry."

She left. Ron lent back shaking his head and curling up with _The Standard Book of Spells Grade Two_ by Miranda Goshawk.

Aside from a few odd instances, like Ron's refusal to play Quidditch, life at the Burrow went smoothly. And by the time Hogwarts letters came the rest of the family was used to Ron's new behaviour.

***PAGEBREAK***

"Ron! Hogwarts letters are here!" Ginny squealed shrilly.

Ron groaned and closed his copy of _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ by Wilhelm Wigworthy.

Trudging down the stairs he yelled, "I'm coming!"

Once in the kitchen he could see his whole family, minus Bill who was in Egypt, reading their various letters with excitement. Ginny gushed about what Hogwarts might be like His mother passed his own letter over as a conversation about the new Defence Professor broke out.

Ron smirked as he read the booklist. He had read, and surprisingly memorised, most of the books on the list. It seems that teachers set the same books every year. That was a useful advantage Ron thought.

"Tomorrow we'll go to Diagon Alley," Mrs Weasley yelled over the babble.

Ron smiled at the small pile of galleons that he still had from his birthday. He knew exactly what he was going to buy.

***PAGEBREAK***

(1) I got sick of writing his mother all the time so her name changes quite a lot.

Sorry this chapter is shorter than I originally planned by I fitted everything I wanted into it.

NEXT CAHPTER IS DIAGON ALLY!

Review Please!


	4. Chapter 4, Traversing the Alleys, Part 1

Chapter 4, Traversing the Alleys, Part 1

Genre: Angst, Adventure

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter he would not be such a walk over and Voldemort wouldn't be such an idiot. Ergo I don't own Harry Potter.

Warning(s): Dark (not Evil) and Slytherin Harry/Hermione/Ron, Good Draco, Bad Voldie, some bad language 

Summary: Common story with a major twist. The Golden Trio, due to various reasons, are dark Slytherins to the core.

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

***PAGEBREAK***

As the Weasley's bustled out of the Leaky Cauldron Ron easily slipped away on his own. He watched his family enter Potages Cauldron Shop with a smirk. Turning on his heel he slid past the other shoppers and into Knockturn Alley.

Ron was wary of everyone on this street. He stayed at least three meters from everyone else and refused to "chat" to anyone. Of course the only one who wanted to chat was a businessman who seemed to be from Carn Alley, a far more dangerous place. Ron ran quickly from that man.

Ron wandered through the street checking each window carefully. Finally he saw exactly what he wanted. The store was called Wilkes' Weapons. It was rather larger than other stores on the street and not quite as dingy looking.

Walking up to the counter like he owned the world Ron asked, "How much is the plain dagger in the window?"

The middle aged man behind the counter recognised the tone as 'I'm important don't fuck with me', "Right this way young master," he said slipping into the window display box.

Ron tapped his foot impatiently and within second the man returned with the dagger, "Is this it sir?"

Ron looked over the dagger, it was plain but elegant. The hilt was a deep, rich green and the blade itself was shiny and sharp.

"Yes, does it have any spells on it?" Ron asked hoping it would be cheap enough for him to buy.

"Of course, it has," the clerk said almost affronted, "It has spells to keep it clean and sharp and a spell to prevent it breaking. We can add more for a small fee."

"No thanks I only need it briefly," Ron lied, "How much did you say it was?"

"Only two galleons, for a third I'd sell you the case as well."

"I'll pay the two, but I want the case anyway. It'll be of no use to you and frankly very little to me, I'm not paying a galleon for something I don't need."

The clerk pursed his lips but agreed to the price. Ron left the store smirking with the dagger attached to his belt. Not wasting any more time he slipped back into Diagon Alley to make another purchase. He walked into a baggage shop that sold trunks, bags and purses. Three minutes later he came out with a mokeskin purse and three less galleons. He had put the dagger into his purse so that his family couldn't find it.

Searching for his family he came across a man and woman screaming at each other. The little girl between them, probably their daughter, was obviously distraught and mortified. No one else, least of all the parents, noticed when the girl ran down the side alley that ran down the side of Gringotts.

Ron chased after her and found her curled up clutching at blue teddy bear. The girl had masses of bushy brown hair that was only more messed up because of her run. Ron felt the first stab of empathy since his change.

"Hello, are you okay?"

***PAGEBREAK***

Hermione had been very excited to find out that her power was magic and that she could be trained. At first she had to endure many fights between her parents about whether she would even go. By the end the month she had snapped and told them that she was going the Hogwarts whether they liked it or not.

Unsurprisingly both her parents were rather wound up by the time they set foot in Diagon Alley. After buying her some school equipment they decided to look at the magical trunks. However this led to a massive fight about buying one.

Hermione was used to her parents screaming abuse at each other but she had never seen them do it in public. She turned very red and tears started to leak from her eyes. She couldn't believe that her parents were embarrassing her like this. Hermione did the only thing that made sense, she ran for it.

She was in a smaller side alley so she curled up and tried to hold back sobs. Hugging her bear, who she named Albert, to her chest she cried. She looked up to see a young red headed boy looking at her concerned.

"Hello, are you okay?" he said softly.

Hermione glared, "do I look okay?"

She tighten her grip on Albert and blinked her tears away.

The boy sat down beside her, "its okay. I saw what happened. I'd cry a lot more if that happened."

Hermione fidgeted, "what do you want?"

"I don't know, to make sure you are okay I guess?" the boy mumbled.

Hermione stared at him in shock. Why would this boy care about her?

"Well, you remind me of me I think. I don't like other people seeing me cry," the boy said red faced.

Hermione looked closer at him, the boy was rather tall, much taller than her, and he was really pale. His bright clothes seemed to completely contradict his demeanour.

"Do you cry often?" the words slipped from Hermione's tongue.

The boy looked at her and Hermione saw crystal clear blue eyes.

"Every night," the boy said solemnly, "its okay to cry you know, I won't judge."

Hermione couldn't hold her tears back anymore and wrapped her arms around the boy as she sobbed. The boy patted her back awkwardly and she bawled harder. Hermione wished that her parents would hug her like this.

Sometime after she pulled away and uttered a soft, "Thank you."

The boy grinned, "No problem. I'm Ron Weasley, I'm a Hogwarts first year."

Hermione smiled weakly back, "Hermione Granger, same."

Ron stood up, "I should look for my family now. Do you want to come with me?" he held out his hand.

Hermione took it and was hauled to her feet. "Thank you, I'd like that."

Ron led her out of the alley. Hermione's parents were nowhere to be seen so they walked down the alley way peering in to stalls. As they walked Ron told Hermione all about being raised with magic. He shocked her with stories of ghouls and brooms. By the time they saw the Weasley's in Flourish and Blotts Hermione was recounting her muggle life.

"Ronald Weasley where have you been!" said a large red headed woman.

Hermione guessed that this was Ron's mother and stepped up, "Its my fault mam, Ron helped me. I was having an issue. I'm a muggle-born, Hermione Granger."

Mrs Weasley blinked at her surprised, "Well next time don't just run off Ron. We could have helped."

Ron nodded, "Yes mum."

Mrs Weasley started to lecture two twin boys who had tried to set a book on fire.

Ron turned to her, "thanks a lot 'Mione. That was brilliant."

Hermione blinked, "'Mione?"

Ron blushed, "We're friends now right? I mean if you don't like 'Mione or-"

Hermione cut him off, "No I like 'Mione," she beamed at him, "I've never had a friend before."

Hermione was knock down by someone who immediately reached out to help her up.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," The black haired boy blathered.

Hermione saw Ron's eyes widen, "Are you by chance Harry Potter?"

***PAGEBREAK***

Hello all!

I would have posted yesterday but then I saw mudblood's review and had to change my plans. See I had arranged for them to meet on Platform Nine and Three Quarters but them meeting at Diagon Alley fitted the story much better in the long run. So thank you mudblood wannabe!

I have no idea what (if any) pairings will surface in this fic but probably not cannon pairings because I immensely dislike them. I can stand Dark Harry/Ginny (I like Ginny just not with Harry) but Ron/Hermione will not ever show up in any fic I write. EVER. (again I don't like the pairing each character is good on their own)

Anyway I'll post part two soon. Remember this Slytherin story has a twist, so if anyone can guess it I'll dedicate a chapter to you.


	5. Chapter 5, Traversing the Alleys, Part 2

Chapter 5, Traversing the Alleys, Part 2

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

* * *

Professor Sprout had taken Harry to Hogwarts straight away. There the Headmaster had first tried to tell Professor Sprout that Harry was well taken care of by his relatives before making Harry take a medical test, once Harry's results came back though Dumbledore backed down.

Harry had mixed feelings about the Hogwarts staff. Snape, potions master, seemed to hate him. McGonald was under the illusion that he would be in her house. Harry seemed to suffer headaches around the Defence professor. Luckily the other teachers seemed to treat him more or less like Professor Sprout did. Harry was happy when it was revealed that he would be staying at Professor Sprout's house instead of Hogwarts for the summer.

During his stay Harry had changed quite dramatically. Harry's confidence after leaving the Dursleys was massive. He knew his limits and had a healthy measure on other people's limits. This caused him to stand a little taller. Harry had also learnt a lot about magic and wizarding culture.

Harry had been shocked to learn about his parents' wealth and had immediately purchased a new wardrobe. He had bought a muggle/magic mixed of comfortable clothes in plain colours that actually fitted him. He bought contacts and had gotten rid of his glasses. Professor Sprout said he looked like a young model.

It was the morning of his birthday during breakfast that Harry found out some good news.

"We're going to Diagon Alley today," Professor Sprout declared over her _Daily Prophet_.

"Really?" Harry asked stabbing a sausage.

"Yep, you need to leave this house sometime, besides I want to get you a present."

Harry flushed, "You don't need to get me-"

"Of course not Harry," Sprout interrupted, "but I want to so just let me, okay?"

Harry beamed at his new guardian and quickly finished his meal.

"Oh, and I have to do some work regarding finding adoptive parents for you so I'll be going to Perpendic Alley as well," Sprout commented idly.

Harry felt his happiness drain from him and to be replaced by the anxiousness he had been ignoring over the past few days. Harry disposed of his plate in the sink.

"Well, child, go get dressed!"

Harry shook his head and ran up the stairs to change. He finally decided upon a blue t-shirt, a pair of black jeans, his black Converse shoes and a large yellow hoodie. He also wore gloves to cover his bruised and cut hands. Grabbing his green backpack Harry ran downstairs.

"I'm ready!" he shouted when he arrived in the living room.

Professor Sprout smiled at him, "Just like your mother, bright clothes and brighter smile."

"Can we go now?" Harry pouted.

Sprout sighed, "Okay birthday boy, we can go. Remember how to floo?"

Harry scowled, "How could I forget?"

Chuckling Sprout passed him the floo powder. Harry took it with a small 'thank you' and floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron. After arriving Harry gazed about the dirty pub waiting for Professor Sprout who arrived second later.

"Now do you want me to come with you?" Sprout asked giving Harry the equipment list and a map of the Alleyways.

"No, I'm fine. You should go sort out the adoption stuff," Harry said sort of hoping Sprout would stay with him anyway.

"Well okay then Harry. Remember stay on Diagon Alley, and if you are in trouble I'll be in Anguses' Law Firm on Perpendic Alley."

"I know okay," Harry huffed, "Can I have my money now?"

Sprout laughed and handed him the pouch of gold, "Don't spend it all."

"Okay," Harry whined.

"Well let's get you on Diagon Alley," Sprout said dragging him in to a small, walled court yard.

Harry noted the weeds and the dustbin. Sprout walked calmly to the further most wall and started tapping the bricks. Soon a small hole appeared – it grew wider and wider – a second later they were facing a large archway. The archway opened up onto a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

Sprout grinned at him and pulled Harry through the archway, which closed behind them, and onto the street. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. _Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring – Collapsible _said the sign hanging over them.

"Well Harry," Sprout said clapping him on the back, "I guess you should go get one of those."

Harry nodded and waved at her before entering the store.

One hour later saw Harry with a cauldron, a crystal set of phials, a telescope and a brass set of scales, shrunken and packed into his back pack. (1) Spotting _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_ he decided to get his robes.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked when Harry started to speak, "Got the lot back here, another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop was a boy with a pale, pointed face standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on the stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hi," Harry said as the boy looked at him curiously, "I'm Harry."

"Draco Malfoy," the boy replied, "Hogwarts too?"

"Yes, what house do you think you will be in?" Harry asked trying to ignore the witches with pins who were making him uncomfortable.

"Slytherin, my family has been in it for ages," the stated proudly.

Harry snorted.

"Do you think that's funny? I bet your some muggle-born any way," Draco sneered.

"No, I'm a half-blood, not that it matters. Slytherin is a perfectly reasonable house, it's just a privet joke," Harry smiled.

Draco rolled his eyes, "You're weird, most people think being in Slytherin means being evil. Even some Slytherins think that."

Harry looked at the blond. At first he had dismissed the blond as a typical spoilt brat but those insights took brains to see, even if Harry had no evidence if they justified.

"You're weird too, you act like a normal brat but you notice more than you let on," Harry said slowly unable to resist seeing the boy's reaction.

"Maybe I do Mister Potter, maybe I do," the boy smirked. (2)

Harry grinned, "You are definitely going to end up in Slytherin, Draco Malfoy."

Madam Malkin interrupted them, "You're done now dear."

As Harry hopped off the stool Draco drawled, "I'll see you at Hogwarts I guess," but Harry noticed the spark in his grey eyes.

"I guess you will," Harry smirked taking his leave.

Outside the store Harry stuffed his shrunken robes into his backpack and decided to get his books. The book store, _Flourish and Blott's_, was larger than any book store Harry had ever seen. There were piles of books that reached the ceiling. Harry couldn't help but feel in awe of the impossible wealth of knowledge around him.

Against all practical concern Harry soon had about thirty books piled in his arms. Very slowly he tried to make it to the counter where the books could be shrunken but he hit a solid object and the books were spilt everywhere. Looking around he saw a girl his age was knocked to the ground and helped her up.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Harry said in a rush hoping the girl wasn't hurt.

"Are you by chance Harry Potter?" a soft but deep voice asked.

Harry turned to see a tall red headed boy with shabby robes looking at him in surprise.

"Um, yes, does that matter?" Harry said fidgeting, he felt bad for knocking the girl down.

"Well no, but it's good to have your name," the red head grinned, "You right 'Mione?"

Harry guessed that was the girl's name and was proven correct when she nodded.

"Do you need any help," she asked.

"Yes," Harry said in relief, "I got carried away by the amount of books."

The three of them sunk to their knees and started gathering books.

"There are so many in this store. I'd have the same problem," the girl smiled.

They picked up all the books and carried Harry's books to the counter.

As the shopkeeper tallied the cost the red head turned to him, "I'm Ron Weasley."

The girl smiled at Harry, "I'm Hermione Granger."

Harry laughed, "I'm Harry Potter, pleasure to meet you."

* * *

(1) He is getting the shopkeepers to shrink his stuff for him.

(2) Draco saw the scar and with the name Harry put two plus two together. Most people don't seem to realise Draco's smarts, I mean he did manage to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Imagine what he could do if he really WANTED and tried to.

Wow, this took longer than I expected. I go back to school tomorrow so update will be slow but I hope you can forgive me.

Please keep reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6, In the Courtyard

Chapter 6, In the Courtyard

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

* * *

After the clerk had scanned the books Harry had him shrink them down and put into his backpack.

"Wow, that is smart," Hermione exclaimed.

Harry turned and smirked at her, "Just common sense. What books did you get?"

Harry like the way both his new acquaintances eyes' lit up.

Hermione started speaking in rush, "We haven't looked yet but I really want to get some of the books you have, '_Little People, Big Plans'_ by Ragnok the Pigeon-toed looked really good."

"I've read that," Ron said tugging on his red hair, "It's really informative on goblin culture and political views."

Harry blinked, "Good, I thought it might turn out to be a dud. How about we co-ordinate books? We get different books and switch when we yet to Hogwarts?"

Hermione and Ron grinned, "Brilliant," they said in sync.

* * *

An hour later after much debate, and ducking to avoid Ron's family, the trio was seated on the ground in the small courtyard alongside Flourish and Blott's with about fifty books.

"That was surprisingly fun," Harry said finally.

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, I still can't believe you talked me into that buying that book about ripping apart human souls."

Harry pouted, "Me and Ron can't have it in case our guardians find it."

Hermione sighed, "Okay," and then frowned, "Ron you're quite."

Ron sighed, "I'm thinking."

Both Harry and Hermione knew better than to press or question so they sat in silence for a while. Harry picked at the hem of his t-shirt until Ron spoke up again,

"Can we be friends? I've never really had a friend so I don't know how to ask this but can we?"

Hermione laughed happily, "I'll be your friend! I've never had a friend either."

Harry looked up from his hem to see them both staring at him.

"I've never been allowed friends. I don't think I'm able to," Harry lied. To be honest he didn't think real friendship or trust was possible, he would rather ignore it.

Hermione looked away but Ron frowned and said, "You think we'll betray you?"

Harry would normally lie but he knew that it would get him nowhere with this boy, he was too astute so he just nodded.

He stiffened when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders.

"Harry, we'll never betray you," Hermione whispered.

Harry shook his head, mortified when tears sprang to his eyes. Damn lack of childhood affection.

"You don't know that," he hissed, "everyone has their price and everyone looks out for themselves. Why pretend we are anything more than using each other for knowledge?"

Hermione lifted her arm slowly. Harry didn't even notice Ron move until his chin was forced upwards so he had to make eye contact with the redhead.

"Harry," Ron said softly, "If you continue believing that you will end up unhappy for life. Love, friendship and happiness aren't myth. I lost a lot of mine with my naivety, I'm going to find it again. I want to do that with you and 'Mione. You both are the first people my age that I understand and that have lost a bit of that naivety and have intelligence."

Harry harshly pulled himself away from the eleven year old.

"Prove you won't betray me, I want to be friends but I won't be hurt again!" Harry yelled, glaring at the ground.

The trio stood in the yard, breathing hard, for a few tense moments. Harry could feel the tension chocking him.

"Bonding charm," Ron muttered at last, "I've been thinking about this for ages. My plan was that if I ever made a real friend we'd go through a bonding charm. It serves as a melding of minds. We'd have access to each other's thoughts. You would know if we ever betrayed you. Two weeks' worth of pen pal ship until Hogwarts and then if you want to we'll do the spell on the train. You can both research the spell on your own, it's mentioned in the magical theory book for first years, and make informed decisions."

Harry thought about it before breathing, "Okay."

Hermione looked between them and clutched her bear to her, "I'm pretty sure this isn't how normal people make friends. But then again, I've never been normal so I'm in."

Harry laughed, "I like you two." And for the first time in years Harry Potter really started to hope.

Ron gave a crooked grin, "Same."

Hermione gasped, "I still need a wand and it's getting late!"

Harry guessed it was only about four-thirty but shrugged anyway.

Ron looked at him, "I need one too, you?"

Harry nodded and hauled his backpack, which was heavy due to the lack of feather-weight charms, on.

"Off we go to Olivander's!" Ron yelled, picking up his own bag of books.

* * *

Hello! Sorry for the wait but like I said, I've been swamped with school work since the end of holidays. As for my other fics, I will be working on them soon.

The next chapter will be the trio's summers and after that Platform Nine and Three Quarters and the sorting! YAH! HOGWARTS! I'm kind of high on sugar so please excuse me.


	7. Chapter 7, Summer Lovin', Having a Blast

Chapter 7, Summer Lovin', Having a Blast

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

* * *

Hermione smiled at her wand. She could learn and do magic with it until her first year at Hogwarts. She was going to change her life with it. The wand itself was vinewood and dragon heartstring, 9 and ¾ quarters long. (1) Olivander said it was a wand for those who were once wronged. Hermione smirked, never again.

She sat down in the living room with a book opened in her lap. She needed this to go perfectly as this was her only opportunity to cast these spells. She didn't need to worry about her parents seeing her because they were both gone. They had another fight and had run off to wherever it is that they sulk. Hermione knew that what she was going to do was wrong however it would finally fix her situation so she didn't care.

She was planning to simply make her parents get along. She didn't want the in love she just wanted the fighting to stop so she needed a series of mind altering spells, such as the suggestion spells Hermione was reading about. It didn't matter that the spells would fade because by then it would be habit. She was thinking about a couple of suggestion charms mingled with a weak cheering charm and a calming spell. Ron had also suggested adding a finely tuned notice-me-not charm so that her parents simply wouldn't notice each other, avoiding conflict for the first few months.

It had only been two weeks since she had met Ron and Harry but already they had sent her enough letters to fill her desks top draws. Harry's beautiful snowy owl Laveda carried all their letters. (2) They sent their support and advice on her mission and progress reports on their own. Somewhere within the magic and moral debates were well wishes and personal stories detailing their day-to-days. Hermione was so glad to have met them and had already decided to take the bond. It had to be better than her life now.

* * *

Harry Potter wanted to learn the laws of magic. He had memorised 'Magical Theory' mostly due to the use of the bonding charm that Ron mentioned as an example. He had been shocked to find not only that he often used magic in ways that defied the few laws of magic but was also that wandless magic was supposedly a lot tougher than what Harry found it. His skills were at a point where they were better than his skill with a wand.

In a small muggle exercise book Harry wrote out his ideas about magical theory is comparison to the set book by Adalbert Waffling-

_Adalbet Waffling's theories,_

_1) The Dead cannot be brought back to life. Once a soul is gone it can never return to this plain._

_2) Magic behaves differently to ordinary energy, it floats and defies gravity._

_3) Pronunciation, wand movement and precision are needed for spell casting. They are the main and easiest part of casting magic to teach. _

_4) The other harder part is belief. You must have belief in the spell to master it._

_5) The five exceptions from Gamp's law of Transfiguration are love, life, food, money and knowledge. It is impossible for magic to create these things, it can only imitate, end or manipulate them._

_Harry Potter's theories,_

_1) N/A (must explore death and magic at a later date)_

_2) Magic is just another form of energy. It can be reflected, countered and avoided. It would not be affected by gravity as it is energy it's self and it is clear it is neither created nor destroyed. Somehow it is stored within wizards (potential energy?). (Must explore further)_

_3) The so called mechanics of magic are a trick. Magic needs intention (and power?) to work. The mechanics seem to build both via emotional response (they don't really do anything people just believe the do, so it works). I have determined that I am a powerful wizard and therefore must recreate tests on a lesser powered being to confirm results._

_4) Intention is how you cast a spell. It is belief and purpose combining. First you must want/crave/need the spell to work. If you are coerced or unwilling to cast the spell it is less likely to work. Belief is needed for the spell to manifest. You must really believe that the spell will happen or it will fail._

_5) N/A (Note, find out how one differentiates money from random gold or even steel)_

Harry was rather proud of himself for so much research with only a few months of exposure to magic however he wasn't sleeping or 'playing' as much as he should and Professor Sprout was worried about him. So he had to go outside and do normal kid things every now and then so she would think he was depressed or worse.

He had also made a list of limitations that he saw in magic with annotations to help himself-

_Cannot resurrect the dead or create new life (apparently)_

_Cannot heal every injury (confirmed by previous visit to Madam Pomfrey who said it was impossible to remove my scar or fix ten years of abuse)_

_Has not progressed well in to mind healing (There are mind arts though so I feel this is the wizarding world's fault)_

_Knowledge cannot be magically absorbed (There are no spells for gaining knowledge. I cannot wave my wand to learn a language however I cannot confirm whether this is because no thought of it or because it is impossible)_

_Cannot create love_

_Cannot create money (The exceptions to Gamp's law suck ass, they are what we spend our whole lives trying to get and we can't even magic them)_

He also scrawled this on the bottom of the list-

_I now understand why poorer witches and wizards don't magic possessions, clothes or objects. I have experimented in transfiguration, conjuration and banishment and I have figured a few things-_

_1) that magically produced objects are of low quality and also fade or come undone over time_

_2) this low quality is caused by two things, static from the magic holding the spell in place and the retention of the original objects properties. i.e. if you turn a leaf into a blanket it is still scratchy and bumpy_

_3) conjured items are magical energy made solid, therefore if you knew the genetic makeup of something you would be able to reproduce it almost perfectly. i.e. conjured food would have the necessary nutrients and minerals, it is lack of knowledge that limits magic._

Harry sighed, it seemed that he needed a more practical grasp of magic before he could fully explore it. Harry left the walnut and phoenix feather wand (11 inches) on the table. He detested it. Wands may focus magic but it was at the expense of raw power. He compared them to safety blankets, they were for support but soon the user was dependant. So Harry was learning the spells wandlessly. Wandless magic took much longer to learn but was less exhausting as less magic was needed.

Harry felt as if the world's mysteries lay were lay bare to him but still he thought of Ron and Hermione. He used his new pen pals as sounding boards for some of his ideas mainly but he also answered their own issues. Hermione was trying to attempt high level (fifth year) charms, which fed nicely into his own research, whilst Ron was focusing on defence magic (Ron already knows the first and second year spells from his brothers and their books). Ron it seems was a veritable source of practical assessment of magic however Harry felt the need to assess magic for himself. Hermione on the other hand was very good at thinking about how to best harness magic, it was her that came up with the idea that magic works better with detailed knowledge.

All in all Harry was finally happy with his life and opening up. He knew he would take the bond, it would not only allow him to gain trusted colleagues and a different perspective he would also be able to include the deep knowledge of bonds into his magic research. Already his life was better than before.

* * *

Ron spent most of his time in his room reading or in the clearing behind his house practising. While Ron was already ahead, having read and mastered most of his brother's spell books since he was eight, he had never had any real combative spell training. Ron was making up for lost time now, thanks to a few galleons and Harry Potter, that he had the correct books.

Ron had a schedule that he followed religiously. Everyday he would run twice around the house before breakfast. He would practise casting spells in the field until lunchtime and then talk to his siblings. After desert he would read or practise with his knife up in his room until his mother yelled at him to go to bed. This routine was punctuated by visits from Laveda. When this happened he would quickly read the letters. He wrote out long responses to those letters while talking to Percy (who respected his privacy) or when he was supposed to be asleep.

He knew his parents were worried by him but it still came as a shock to Ron when his parents sat him down before dinner.

***Flashback***

"Ron, is every thing okay?" his father asked.

"Um, fine dad," Ron nervously replied.

He was playing with the bare threads of the quilted pill in his lap wondering what this was all about. Even though he trusted his parents Ron couldn't help but warily eye their hands, making sure they were free of weapons, wands, heavy books or anything else that could hurt. He noted that he had a clear exit to the left and visibly relaxed.

"Are you sure? You aren't upset or hurt at all?"

Ron raised an eyebrow, "Should I be?"

"No, no, no," his mother interjected, "It's just you are really distant from the family lately."

"What? I talked to Percy for like two hours yesterday. I played with Ginny the day before. I thought I was okay with all of you," Ron said.

"You are Ron," his dad assured him, "It's just that you go missing all the time and spend hours locked in your room and owls are giving you letters at all hours."

Ron scoffed, "I'm reading in my room and sometimes I answer letters," Ron didn't feel the need to let them in on the knife though. "I disappear to think. I've lived with you all my life and I just want some space so I go for walks. As for the owl, there is only one and its Harry's. Hermione and him are sending me letters, about what they are doing and what they have read that was good. I'm just trying to occupy myself, sorry if I worried you."

His dad smiled and his mum relaxed, "Thank goodness. Don't scare us like that you silly boy."

Ron stood up quickly before he could be wrapped in a hug, "Well I'm going to talk to Percy, I have yet to convince him that muggleborns are in need of better protection policies."

***FlashbackEnd***

It was only then that he realised just how different he was than normal kids. It wasn't that he checked rooms for escapes and that his greatest fear was death, it was that he thought, acted and lived differently. He was grateful for Harry and Hermione more than ever. Without them he might never have related to any one his age, he would have been shunned. He couldn't wait to hear if they would accept the bond, he was sure Hermione would but Harry might refuse. Either way life could only get better.

* * *

(1) Hermione has the same wand because it still fits her personality, Harry however has a different personality completely and therefore and new wand. Also Ron has the same hand-me-down ash wand from Charlie.

(2) This Harry wouldn't just pick a name. Laveda means purified in Latin and a variant of Veda which is wisdom. I thought it fitting.

* * *

_And so it goes another lonely day._

_You're saving time but you're miles away._

Yes that was an odd way to start an AN. It's some song lyrics that won't leave my brain. Any who, what do you think about my magic concepts? This is only a vague outline because, well, is only Harry first notes. Some things on it are liable to change. It's two thirty in the morning, I didn't sleep last night and I have to do my Math Assignment tomorrow (because it's due the day after). The point is that you should applaud my dedication to this story, and that I'm updating at this ungodly hour, with reviews. Also check my profile for my other stories! And as always feel free to add advice or ask questions, all it takes is a little click. And while your there... REVIEW! PRETTY PLEASE!

The next chapter the trio get their first glimpse of Hogwarts life. We find out if Hermione's parents stopped fighting and we await the sorting. Also I may have changed the plot for the third time so I decided to steal one reviewer's idea. Credit given totally next chapter. Now here's the interesting bit a pairing, most likely this will be Harry/Ron/Hermione. However this is not set in stone and it won't surface for a long time. I'm trying not to rush this story because I am kind of rush one of my other ones.


	8. Chapter 8, Infragilis Vinculum

Chapter 8, Infragilis Vinculum

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – no-verbal speech

***PAGEBREAK***

Harry didn't need to catch the Hogwarts Express. As a teacher's charge he was able to go straight to Hogwarts, however, he had promised Ron and Hermione. It was about a quarter to eleven when he secured the last compartment on the train. They had planned to meet there. As he waited for them he read over his Magical Theory notes.

At five to eleven there was a knock on the compartment door. Harry opened the door to find Hermione and Ron waiting for him.

"All right there mate?" Ron grinned.

Harry couldn't help but smile in return, "Yes, and your self?" Harry was surprisingly formal with his speech and his manner. The Durselys would have punished him it he so much as stuttered on a word.

"Right," Ron cheered as he moved aside to let Hermione in first.

Harry knew the motion wasn't a sign of politeness, Ron never entered a room without someone going first, safety reasons he said.

Hermione gave him a bright smile and a quick pat on his shoulder as she passed him. Once the three of them were seated Ron sighed.

"Sorry to so blunt but, are we going to do this?" He asked.

Harry ran through his thoughts once more, he was hesitant but willing to bond with both students so he nodded. Beside him Hermione also nodded her approval. Ron pulled out his mokeskin purse. He laid his knife and a small bowl on the empty seat beside him.

Harry had read through the ritual many times. Infragilis Vinculum was one of the most basic rituals you could perform. (1) The process included a small reciting of a spell and then a mixing of blood. Harry decided to take the initiative a spoke first,

"Blood of the chosen, to prove my willingness," Harry chanted.

Ron passed him the knife and he made a small incision in the back of his hand. Harry allowed the blood to drip slowly into the bowl. Ron took the knife back.

"Faith of the chosen, to prove my trust," Harry said slowly letting the magic settle in his mind. It was a strange feeling that he didn't like but Harry gritted his teeth and allowed the magic free access.

Before Ron could start speaking Hermione repeated his lines and snatched the knife. Her cut was a little deeper but still slow dripping. He watched as Hermione closed her eyes, trusting the magic completely.

Ron went next. His cut was the shallowest and he didn't even seem to notice the intrusion in his mind. However he gave the whispered order that they were waiting for,

"Now…"

The three of the chanted in sync, "Infragilis Vinculum," and a bright light engulf them. (2)

After the shining light disappeared Harry's head was throbbing.

_Oww… this is a pain. Can either of you hear me?_

It was Ron. Harry didn't know how he knew, after all the thought didn't sound like anything let alone like Ron's voice, he just did.

_Yeah, I can hear you. It's hurting my head, _Hermione replied.

_Same,_ Harry sent. He knew that he could speak to Hermione and Ron via his mind but that he had to consciously want to.

Ron spoke aloud, "Our minds have to adjust to the bond. We should be right soon."

Harry sighed, "Well okay then."

There was a soft silence. It wasn't awkward just uncomfortable. It was clear that they were all feeling the strain of their recent bond.

"I did it," Hermione whispered at last. Harry figured that she was trying to get their minds off the pain, "I managed to spell my parents. They didn't fight at all for a whole week. I'm sure that it worked, they had a polite conversation this morning."

Ron smiled at her, "That's good. And you did fifth year magic, I'm impressed."

Harry nodded, wincing at the sharp pain, "It's great. Ron what spells did you learn?"

Ron sighed, "Unlocking jinx, banishing jinx, bedazzling hex, bluebell flames, body-bind curse, blasting curse, confoundus charm, defensive charm, conjunctivitis curse, severing charm and the shield charm. Everything else was either in the first or second year textbooks or basic defensive magic that will be taught in DADA anyway."

Hermione sighed, "I thought you said that you learnt the disarming charm?"

Ron frowned, "Like I said first year DADA. Course if the set book is anything to go by then the teacher is incompetent and won't teach us anything."

Hermione pouted, "You don't really think that, do you?"

Harry interrupted before they could fight, "Think Hermione weren't there teachers that worked to slowly or didn't explain things right at primary school?" Hermione nodded, "So there would be teachers like that in the magical world too."

Hermione looked aghast, "I thought things would be different."

Ron nodded, "No matter what they say, it is the same world. Wizards are just as bad as muggles."

Hermione looked down cast.

"Don't worry," Ron said, "That's why we are learning these things on our own, so that we know they are correct. Think of class as revision, it tells you what basics you need to know for life."

Hermione sighed, "I guess that Ravenclaw would suit us just as well as Slytherin then." That was a point that they had touched on in their letters, they agreed that they were obvious Slytherins.

Harry sat up a little, "I wanted to talk about that. I don't think we should be in Slytherin."

Ron frowned again, "Why not?"

Harry sighed, "We'll get eaten in there. Face it they would only see us as a muggle-born, a blood traitor and the boy-who-lived. I don't think we'd get a good reception, besides a lot of the children in that house are only Death-Eater, Slytherin-wannabes. True Slytherins would be sorted into another house, to live under cover. Getting sorted into your true house practically shouts to the world your character. No teacher will trust Slytherin students now would they?"

Hermione nodded, "That is right. If we were Ravenclaws then it wouldn't be strange for us to be in the library all the time. No one would think twice."

"Or in Gryffindor, we could roam the school at night with only the excuse that we were curious," Ron added.

Harry grinned, "In Hufflepuff we would be completely overlooked, surrounded by loyal people and our closeness wouldn't be questioned."

Hermione smirked, "So which house?"

Ron quickly suggested Gryffindor again. Harry knew this was because Ron didn't want to lose his new found closeness with is brother, Percy.

Harry shook his head, "Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff would be best. I'd say Hufflepuff but I'll let you both decide."

Hermione and Ron gave it a lot of thought.

"Ravenclaw," Hermione said at length, "Hogwarts a History mentions that they have their own library."

Ron nodded, "I agree. The problem with Hufflepuff is that if we are too scholarly or top of the class then we won't get a minutes rest, people would expect us to help **because of fair play**," Ron sneered the last part. None of the trio believed that fair play existed. (3)

Harry snorted, "Great Ravenclaws we are! Hopefully we can talk the Hat into it, shouldn't be hard with our love of knowledge."

Hermione grinned, "Knowledge is power."

Harry smirked, "Which reminds me I've refined my magical theory notes, here take a look." He made to pass them to Hermione but Ron stooped him.

"Use your mind to transfer the knowledge to us," Ron said.

Harry blinked in shock but eventually closed his eyes and concentrated on his notes;

_**Magic can be reflected, countered, avoided and transformed but never created nor destroyed. Magic is solely intention and power, if you have the ability all spells are relative. Magic has limits within healing, knowledge. Magic cannot create life, love, wealth, nutrition or knowledge. Also anything created or changed by magic is of poorer quality and ephemeral. **_

Harry could feel his bond mates processing this knowledge. When he retracted his thoughts from the link he realised that his head no longer hurt, it appeared that Ron was right.

"If magic is intention and power then why do we have wands?" Hermione said, grounding him.

Harry shrugged, "Control maybe or a way to allow a person to focus? Either way I don't use a wand anymore."

Harry pulled out the wand in his pocket and snapped it in half. Hermione gasped. He showed her the filled in core.

"It is just a wooden stick I bought and carved," Harry explained, "I knew that if I used a wand to much I would become dependent on it so I switched them. I need to at least look like I use a wand in class."

Harry cast a wandless reparo at the wood and it fixed. Harry let out a small sigh of discomfort. Having pure magic flow through your arm was a strange, almost painful feeling.

"Do you think we should use fake wands?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Yes," Harry nodded, "I got fake wood for all three of us. Hermione here is your Vinewood and Ron I didn't know what wand you got so I got you Oak, I thought it fit your personality."

Ron nodded, "I'll have to use my Ash wand at home though."

They took their new 'wands' and smiled. The rest of the trip was spent sharing knowledge. By the time the train stopped Harry was having trouble keeping from smiling. That was too much fun.

Hermione, Harry and Ron were waiting in the entrance hall for Professor McGonagall (who showed caring but obvious superiority on her face) to come back. Feeling nervous Ron slipped his left hand into Harry's right and his right into Hermione's left.

Ron knew as soon as he had seen Hermione crying, and later when he saw Harry hurry to apologise, that these two lived harsher lives than him. He knew that if he was to learn compassion like Percy said that he would have to understand others like them so they became his targets for allies. Now that the bond was in place he knew he made the right choice and that was confirmed when they both squeezed his hands back.

At that moment a blond boy walked up to them.

"Hello again Harry, who are they?" the boy said indicating at Ron and Hermione.

Ron searched his face and saw not the arrogance and indifference that the boy pushed forth but the hidden surfaces. He had learnt this talent by watching Fred and George, who were experts, lie to his mother. The blond boy held awe, jealousy and self-loathing deep in his grey blue eyes.

Scanning the boy's appearance and finding that he wore light expensive clothes and silken robes he figured that he was a rich pureblood. By the features he associated a name, Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy was almost his father's nemesis, the reason for their enmity was unknown, and Ron was unsure as to how to approach the carefully guarded boy before him. In the end Ron settled for doing nothing although it made him uncomfortable.

Harry stiffened, "Hello Draco. These are my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron, Hermione, this is my friend Draco Malfoy."

Malfoy, so his guess was right. Ron knew better than to question the use of friendship on Malfoy, the boy's jealously would lash if he did. For now the boy looked smug at the title.

"I've never heard of the Granger family," Malfoy said coolly.

Ron could see where this was going. Both his friends tightened their grip on him.

"So Malfoy, what house do you think you will be in?" Ron diverted. It worked the boy's mind switched to the new topic.

"Slytherin, I suppose a Weasley like you would be a Gryffindor," Malfoy sneered.

The words held no bite. Ron knew they were an attack to encourage Harry to be Malfoy's friend and to give Malfoy a feeling of superiority. All it did was first make Ron pity Malfoy and then laugh at how wrong the boy was. Ron caught the smirk Hermione gave him.

"Sorry no, I'm going to be a Ravenclaw just like Harry and Hermione," He said swiftly, "I hope we can be friends Malfoy."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at Harry, "Raveclaw? I got the impression that you wanted to be a Slytherin."

Harry smirked at him, "Maybe I changed my mind."

Ron watched anger, betrayal and jealousy flit in those eyes before they settled back on their usual self-loathing. He wondered vaguely why Malfoy was so possessive over Harry. Malfoy would have retaliated if McGonagall hadn't chosen then to return.

Ron hadn't noticed until then the pale ghosts that were floating above their heads. McGonagall shooed them away and ushered the first years into the hall via a line. Ron was behind Harry and in front of Hermione.

The hall was a thing of wonder and Ron had to disguise his awe. Harry was showing indifference, having seen the hall before, and Hermione was gob-smacked. He noted the contrast amusedly. At last Harry's eyes fell to the ratted Hat. Figuring what it was for he smirked at the thought that Fred and George were toying with him, not that he didn't already know.

The Hat went through sorting students. When the name "Granger, Hermione" was called the three stiffened. Hermione reluctantly stepped up to the hat. After a few nerve-racking minutes it called out "Ravenclaw"and Hermione went to sit at the table of blue.

The boy Draco Malfoy did indeed go to Slytherin. Ron never doubted that the boy was a Slytherin. He seemed to encompass everything Slytherin in one breath. Dark, Pureblood, Arrogant, Self-loathing, ambitious and cunning, he hated himself yet still felt entitled to things others wouldn't. Ron clapped along with the Slytherin table and Harry. (4)

When McGonagall called, "Potter, Harry," the dining hall broke into whispers. Ron gave Harry's hand a comforting squeeze and let him go. Harry showed no emotion as he let the Hat fall past his ears. It was a few seconds before it sent him to Ravenclaw.

When Ron took his turn to step up the Hat barely brushed his head when it screamed, "Ravenclaw." Ron slipped into a seat beside Hermione. Harry gave him a grin across from him and they turned to watch Blaise Zambini get sorted into Slytherin. Harry sent him a list of students and their houses-

_Brown, Lavender -Gryffindor_

_Finnigan, Seamus - Gryffindor_

_Thomas, Dean - Gryffindor _

_Longbottom, Neville - Gryffindor_

_Patil, Parvati– Gryffindor_

_Moon, Lilly – Gryffindor _

_Perks, Sally-Anne – Gryffindor_

_Cornfoot, Stephen - Gryffindor_

_Boot, Terry- Ravenclaw_

_Brocklehurst, Mandy - Ravenclaw_

_Corner, Michael - Ravenclaw_

_Goldstein, Anthony- Ravenclaw_

_McDougal, Morag - Ravenclaw_

_Patil, Padma - Ravenclaw_

_Turpin, Lisa– Ravenclaw_

_Granger, Hermione– Ravenclaw_

_Potter, Harry– Ravenclaw_

_Weasley, Ronald "Ron"– Ravenclaw_

_Abbott, Hannah- Hufflepuff_

_Bones, Susan - Hufflepuff_

_Finch-Fletchley, Justin - Hufflepuff_

_Hopkins, Wayne - Hufflepuff_

_Jones, Megan - Hufflepuff_

_Macmillan, Ernie– Hufflepuff_

_Li, Su – Hufflepuff_

_Entwhistle, Kevin – Hufflepuff_

_Bulstrode, Millicent- Slytherin_

_Crabbe, Vincent - Slytherin_

_Davis, Tracey __ - Slytherin_

_Goyle, Gregory- Slytherin_

_Greengrass, Daphne - Slytherin_

_Malfoy, Draco - Slytherin_

_Nott, Theodore - Slytherin_

_Parkinson, Pansy - Slytherin_

_Zabini, Blaise– Slytherin _(5)

The hall quietened for the Headmasters speech.

(1) Infragilis Vinculum means 'unbreakable bond' in Latin

(2) The ritual is really simple, that's why it is used as an example in the first year textbook. I also want to point out that the reason that even though the ritual is ridiculously easy but is not a commonly used spell is because most people are not going to bind themselves to others. I'm thinking that a lesser powered version of this ritual is used in wizarding marriage. More details will become apparent later.

(3) They are basing their house assumptions on books and what Ron hears from his brothers.

(4) Yes I did focus a little too much on Draco. I won't do it too much from now on. Draco is a favourite of mine and I wanted to enforce the way he will be represented. Draco isn't a good or bad character but he will play a major role eventually.

(5) This list is ALMOST canon. Moon has no name (Lil and Li were suggested though so I used Lilly) or house as did Sally-Anne. Cornfoot and Entwhistle and Li, Su were all down for Ravenclaw but that would give Ravenclaw too many students so I moved them. Other than that the list is canon! Also I posted the whole thing because it DOES relate to my current plans. I might post a blood status table too.

Full credit to Muxi who suggested that they were "Hufflepuffs with a dark purpose" I switched it to Ravenclaw for convenience. Originally I had them as not having a house; I had thought to make the bond unable to allow the Sorting Hat into their minds but that idea of mine got chucked as it was too similar to another idea in "Do-Over" which is another fan-fiction of mine.

I know that was a sharp cut off but I had to end it there. I want to do the fest from the point of view of Hermione and this chapter is already so much longer than the others. Also I have wasted too much assignment time on this.

Next chappie will be the Fest, settling into the dorm and first day! Please review!


	9. Chapter 9, Nitwit Oddment Blubber Tweak!

Chapter 9, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

* * *

Quick note – This chapter is dedicated to Muxi who gave me the back-up idea of dark Slytherins that aren't Slytherins (I might have mention this but I never actually kept my promise so here it is). Oh and there possibly is too much Ravenclaw pride in this chapter (I hope no one minds) but as a Slyth/Rave myself I couldn't help it.

* * *

When Albus Dumbledore got to his feet he beamed at the students, his arms wide, as if nothing pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, would like to say a few words…"

Hermione leaned forward, this was the most powerful wizard of their time, she got the feeling that his next words were important. Her mind prepared to commit them to memory.

"And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you," he said and sat down.

Many of the students laughed but Hermione was left disappointed. She had thought that this was a man of power and wisdom and that his advice could help her with her quest for knowledge but obviously he was just an old coot.

As the feast appeared on the plates in front on her and the hall roared to life she turned to Ron and Harry (both sitting just behind her) to make a scathing comment on the Headmaster's sanity when she noticed their expressions. Both boys were still looking at the now seated Dumbledore with admiration in their eyes.

_That man is a genius_, Ron sent via their link. Hermione could feel Harry's approval.

_Why? His words didn't mean anything, right?_ She sent back as she quietly loaded her plate not concentrating on the food that ended up there.

_That's the brilliance of it!_ Harry's mind whirled enthusiastically although his face betrayed no emotion. _The words themselves don't mean anything however the way he delivered them causes everyone else to try a bring meaning to the words themselves. Add to the fact that the words are short and jovial, delivered to a room of hungry children means that he gained respect from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff minds that don't want to delve in to meaning, those are the followers he is targeting. Everyone else fills it with their own thoughts; Supporters would see wisdom in those words while those who would naturally oppose him would see nothing but insane rambles. That's the perfection of the idea. _(1)

It was Hermione's turn to cast the Headmaster a look of awe; he had planned his speech well it seemed. Hermione was looking forward to what else she might learn from the Professor. Looking around the head table she examined each teacher. At the ends of the table sat a giant bearded man and an old Igor-looking-character. Hermione assumed that they were the heads of staff. Next to them were a few older ordinary-teacher-looking types and then a few coots. Most notably there was a skinny woman who resembled a bug and a nervous man in a turban.

However it was the two either side of the Headmaster that finally caught Hermione's attention, the two heads, Gryffindor's Professor McGonagall and Slytherin's Professor Snape. Hermione had met Snape when he had come to her house to explain Hogwarts and magic. He looked just as opposing then as he did now. The way the three of them conversed screamed loyalty, though Hermione was sure that this was Ron's thought and not her own. She could see, almost through the red head's eyes, the subtle submissive gestures that McGonagall and even Snape gave to Dumbledore. (2)

Without warning Hermione's, and Ron's, attention was snapped back to their table as a girl with tight black braids addressed them.

"Hello there. I'm Lisa Turpin, and you are," the girl beamed their blinking faces.

Eventually Hermione smiled back and stuck out her hand, "I'm Hermione Granger. And this is Ron Weasley," she gestured to the red head before turning her attention back to Lisa who was eyeing Harry, "And this is Harry but you already knew that right?" her voice was a little harder now. It was easy to see that the girl was only trying to talk to famous 'Harry Freakin' Potter'.

Lisa didn't look at all abashed instead she simply nodded and continued to speak as if she was already their best friend, "I'm a pureblood but I don't think anyone is better than anyone else. I treat everyone equally."

Hermione snorted, as if, the girl wanted nothing more than to fire questions at Harry whilst ignoring her and Ron, that was obvious.

_Control yourself_, Harry, still annoyingly blank faced, projected into her mind. _Turpin is a respected name, she holds some authority in this world._

Hermione briefly wondered how Harry knew this before she heard him speak out loud.

"Really, that's nice," Hermione was surprised by the warmth in Harry's voice, "So you're a pureblood. I bet you know a bit about magic already. I lived with my muggle aunt so I don't know a lot about the wizarding world," Harry said with a nervous smile. Hermione knew this was a complete lie but she could detect it at all.

Clearly Ron had heard her thoughts because he sent her his own. _Can you see the slight frown in his forehead? Or the way his eyes are meeting hers? If he were really nervous he wouldn't want to do that however right now he is trying to gain her trust and that is the easiest way. Practised liars will often try to hold your eyes because it gains your trust and it gives them a feeling of control over the situation._

Hermione looked back at Harry with interest picking up on the little clues that Ron had told her. She couldn't believe that Ron had picked up on the tiny crease in Harry's eyebrows, it was barely noticeable.

Lisa however noticed nothing and smiled sweetly, "Really? Feel free to come to me with any questions about our customs. I'm sure you'll pick up on everything quickly though. Muggleborns always do and it's not like the purebloods know any spells really. Most of us can't even cast a Lumos charm," she said brightly.

Hermione watched as Harry's scrunched up in a look of confusion, "What's a Lumos charm?"

Once again Ron ran a commentary on the tell-tale signs of lying and Hermione was enthralled listening intently. She wasn't even aware of her mind running over every word twice over and committing it to memory. Harry and Lisa discussed light topics like school and spells however as desert appeared on the table the conversation turned to Lisa's parents.

"Well my father is the Head of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures' Department at the Ministry and my oldest brother runs an apothecary. Liam, the second eldest is training to be an Auror and my youngest brother and my only sister are both in their fifth year here. I think they want to travel instead of getting careers," Lisa spoke as if it was the most common thing to take off instead of working which surprised Hermione.

When Harry didn't comment on it, instead asking in detail about each job, she mentally asked Ron. _Most pureblood wizarding families are rich, Hermione, most don't need more money they simply get jobs to feel accomplished or to give back to the family vault. It's quite common for purebloods to not work if they want to travel or do charity work._

Hermione sighed, so the wizarding world was full of snot-nosed rich kids. Hermione knew that her muggle family was wealthy, she had gone to a privet primary school, however she had concluded that it was often the really rich kids that bullied her. They were the kind that played with expensive phones instead of toys and bragged about their parents while putting hers down.

She was drawn out of her inner ramblings by silence. The tables were once again clear and the Headmaster was standing. She focused her attention to reality. She noted the Professor's eyes flicking to Ron's twin brothers when he mentioned the forest on the grounds. Remembering what Ron had told her about their antics she shared a grin with him. She frowned at the mention of Quidditch, she had no idea what that meant.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death," the Headmaster proclaimed grimly.

Turning to the side Hermione gave the boys a look that echoed her silent question; _This for real?_

Harry gave her the slightest of nods and turned back to the Headmaster. Hermione did the same whilst listening to the various murmurs and whispered conversations. Professor Dumbledore calmly waited for the noise to abate somewhat before drawing attention back to the front.

Hermione snorted again at the suggestion of singing the school song. She hadn't sung since she embarrassed herself at her fifth year talent show and she was not going to do it now. With a frown she stared at the glittering gold words that were the lyrics. Around her everyone was singing at different paces. Almost no Slytherins joined the song, Ron's brothers were using the Death March as their tune, Harry was singing to quietly to hear and Ron was singing with a rich voice that sounded a lot better than most of the students' voices. She sighed with relief as the song (torture!) ended.

The Headmaster excused them and the hall leapt to life. A pretty girl with brown hair called the first years over. As they made their way out of the Hall Hermione slipped her hand into Ron's. At least she wasn't alone for once.

* * *

When Harry felt Ron's hand silently slip into his he looked over to see Hermione's already clutching the red-head's left one. With a sigh he kept track of the path they were following. He almost feel the other conversing mentally and wanting him to join but kept his own mind focused on just how many turns they had taken.

Eventually the Ravenclaws ended up at on the west side of the fifth floor. At the top of a spiral staircase, and is a door without doorknob or keyhole but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. Harry was surprised, though he didn't show it, when the knocker spoke in a high-pitched voice;

"What is greater than good, worse than evil, the content seek it and if you eat it you die?" the knocker asked.

Harry felt a ripple of discontent, "The password is a riddle! That is really unsafe, particularly with one as easy as this. Anyone could walk in," Harry was indignant.

The prefect turned her eyes coldly on him, "If they solve the riddle they are worthy of entering. If you can't figure the riddle you wait until someone does, that is how you learn. Knowledge is to be shared not horded. Now do you have an answer to the riddle or not?"

Harry could see her reasoning however it would suck to be stuck out here all night if the riddle was particularly hard, "The answer is 'nothing', is it not?" he felt weird addressing a door knocker.

"Indeed," the knocker cheered loudly and the door popped open.

The female prefect shot him a warning glare and Harry managed to keep the smugness off his face. She ushered them in to a large circular room coloured with various shades of blue. The ceiling was painted with silver shining stars that actually twinkled. There were a lot of students sitting clusters leisurely talking about their holidays, Harry noticed a couple getting 'reacquainted' with each other's mouths under a white marble statue of a serene tall woman.

However the prefect pulled them over to a set of stairs that lead through to a second level. Again this level held chatting students only this time the walls were covered in bookcases and the conversations were held in fierce whispers, over hand-written notes and books. Harry got the feeling he would be spending a lot of time on this level. The prefect pointed out a small doorway next to another stair case.

"This door will lead to the first year dormitory, the dorm rooms do not change for your time at Hogwarts so this will be your room for as long as you are here. Boys are on the left and girls are on the right. Boy and girls are not permitted in each other's dorms. Likewise you are not allowed in the older students dorms which are located on each floor above us, however you may go to those floors so long as you stay outside of the dorms themselves," by now the girl was reciting, she must have practiced the speech before.

"You are warned now that telling outsiders about the location of our common room is a punishable offense however there are students from other houses who have figured out the location. These students are encouraged to continue coming here and often join our inter-common room clubs, such as the debate team and specialist clubs, they are to be treated with respect. On Fridays there are all night study sessions for which some of the older students kindly allow us to borrow their time. This is to help students with any school work related problems. On Saturdays after breakfast there is an open debate, regulated by the debate team, for anyone to join, the topic is posted on the notice board downstairs the previous Wednesday as to give time to prepare any notes on the subject. Even if you hold no interest in these events please make sure you are aware of them and do not interfere with those who wish to join in."

Once again the first years were subjected to the girl's glare, Harry shrugged it off though, he had seen worse. "Please check the notice board each day as room changes and other important information is always available there and no one will be babying you to make sure you got the memo. There are out of house clubs such as gob-stones and chess which you might wish to join. As for your behaviour with in the dorm, it is curfew at nine and you are expected to be in here or your dorms by such a time, with the exception of Astronomy. You are to keep your voices at a respectable level or upperclassmen will subject you to silencing charms. Are there any questions?" The girl looked like she had already decided that were none.

Harry frowned and raised his hand, "Just two quick questions, firstly what are rules concerning the books on the shelves and secondly if we are having issues who is the proper person to contact?"

The girl gave him an approving look, "Maybe our resident celebrity has some brains. The books on the shelves are open for use, once you're done with a book put it into one of those red boxes," she nodded her head towards one such box, "the books are then returned to shelf. A warning though these books do not leave this tower and are not to be left out, if you break either of these two rules the punishment is severe. As for problems you can always seek out a prefect such as myself, we are usually hanging around the upper levels, however if you think a prefect is not fulfilling their duty or your problem is with a prefect than our house head is Professor Flitwick, the short statured gentleman who teaches charms I hope you don't face problems that your need to go to him for. And now dear children you should set upon prepping for bed. It's your first day tomorrow you need to be well rested. Off you hop," she smiled, "except you Potter," the girl added on the end.

Reluctantly Harry let go of Ron and his two friends waiting hovering under the doorway the other students had disappear into. "Yes, um…" he trailed not sure about how to address the prefect.

The girl smiled, "Penelope. And about your little burst at the entrance there, I wanted to let you know that I understand you problem. However every house, even Gryffindor, had its Death Eaters so simply hiding behind a password will not keep you safe. If a supporter of you-know-who really wanted to attack you they aren't going to do it in your sleep though; the dorms are warded, only a male Ravenclaw of your age group or a teacher can get in to your room, this is done to keep everyone protected. Now you've got a good head on your shoulders so don't let how the other students behave affect you do," with a final stern look she dismissed him and immediately dropped into a conversation on the far side of the room.

Returning to his friends, who had heard the whole conversation, he motioned for them to sit at a nearby abandoned table for the moment. Sinking into plush blue chairs Ron and Hermione looked curiously at him. He could feel their careful prodding at his mind but shut them out completely he needed to talk to them, out loud.

"Hermione, Ron, we have to think in terms of goals. This is probably a too serious question for our age but we should start thinking about it. What do we each want from life?" he made sure he spoke in a hushed tone so no one else could hear.

He could feel Hermione churning a thousand thoughts a second. That was the reason why he hadn't wanted to hold this discussion via the bond, he didn't need to see the bushy girl's every want sifted through. Eventually it was Ron that spoke out loud first;

"Security, safety, happiness?" Ron uttered softly.

Harry shook his head, Ron was thinking to abstract, "I was more in the direction of possible careers, lines of study, interests and hobbies. Charities, becoming prefect or world domination, in other words goals."

Hermione arched an eyebrow, "World domination?"

Harry gave a small grin, "It's a possibility. Besides I wasn't seriously expecting an answer right now, I just think we should be discussing goals and thinking about what we want to do. That way when the time comes that we have to decide we will be ready and well informed."

Ron nodded, "I was kind of thinking about pursuing a career like my brother Bill's as a curse breaker or a rune master. Those kind of jobs are interesting and they allow one to travel the world. But that's only a possibility, and you need really high grades."

Harry reached over and patted Ron's shoulder, "Mate you are two years ahead of the class and we haven't even had our first lesson. You're going to have 'really high grades'."

Ron smiled, a silent _thanks_ was passed between them.

Harry's attention was pulled back to the bushy haired girl when she sighed, "I've got no idea about wizarding culture. I was so engrossed by trying to lighten my home life and then memorizing the textbooks that I didn't have time to read about day-to-day wizard life."

Harry watched as Ron put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Between me and Harry you'll pick up the information quickly."

Harry had to stop himself from correcting the red-head's grammar and instead smiled and nodded at the girl, he could feel that she needed reassurance.

Hermione smiled and thanked them for their support before excusing herself to bed. Both boys watched her leave before they too agreed to go sleep. It had been a long day. And later as Harry fell asleep and he felt the presence of Hermione and Ron in his mind he was surprised at how comfortable it was. Neither was pressing into his thoughts or sending goodnight wishes, they were simply wrapped around his mind like a warm blanket. It was then that he realized that he would never be alone any longer and after being alone for so long that was a comfort he had never realized that he wanted.

* * *

(1) I'm not sure if I did a good job explaining the meaning of the words. Really I was searching for a good title for this chapter and I thought, 'what about Dumbles' random gibberish?' So being lazy I went online instead of looking through the book. Wow way too many people try to analyse those words. So I figured there would be some irony if the whole meaning of the four word speech was dependant on the lack of meaning.

(2) Take note that Hermione gets confused over whether it's her thoughts or Ron's that allow her to analyse the Head-trio as I have taken to calling Dumbles, Snake and Mac-G. Also take note that both McGonagall and Snape are close to the Headmaster because I really like Head-trio stories/situations where they plan, at least somewhat, together. Too many people do the McGonagall-is-unaware thing when she is too clever for that. And no there will not be Dumbledore bashing, much. ;)

* * *

Okay yes that was a ridiculously long time to wait for a post. Well for a month I was studying for exams and then a week spent enjoying summer (yes I'm on that side of the world) and there was Christmas. As for the rest of the time I must say there was nothing but severe writer's block. I'm sorry.

On a lighter note, the next chapter will be the first day. It would have been in this chapter but it got too big. Feel free to badger me if you notice I'm not posting (no seriously do so, it helps me write) and if your on a site called HEX (Hogwarts Extreme) my user name is the same so feel free to bother me there ;)


	10. Chapter 10, Pimples and Werewolves

Chapter 10, Pimples and Potions

"speech" – speech

^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' - written

* * *

"Albus, this is unbelievable," Minerva said softly.

Severus and herself were seated in front of the Headmaster's desk like naughty school children. Things were not at all moving forward the way they had planned and now they would have to improvise a new direction to take.

The Headmaster gave an eye twinkle and nodded, "This is certainly an unforseen complication."

No kidding, she thought bitterly, they had worked with the assumption that Potter would be placed in Gryffindor even without Hagrid's influence. She couldn't believe how the boy's own family could treat him so coldly and yet the boy seemed to be friendly and warm, like any true Gryffindor.

"A Ravenclaw, Albus, the boy is a Ravenclaw," Minerva almost spat, "You know what a quarter of those kids are? They are Deatheaters' children, Deatheaters! And the ones who aren't are so cold. They care about nothing but research. James and Lily's son in such a house? Preposterous."

Severus hadn't said a word. Minerva had noticed ever since meeting the boy for real that Severus hadn't been nearly as vocal in his loathing of Harry Potter or even James for that matter.

"What did you manage to uncover from his mind?" Albus asked the potions' master.

Whilst being at Hogwarts for those short few days Harry had his thoughts read almost constantly by Severus, for the greater good of course. And yet even with this insight into the boy's mind they had found nothing to suggest that he wasn't the normal child they were hoping for, but then again they hadn't delved too far into the boy's thoughts.

"Nothing Albus, I can't even manage to reach his mind. It's like he became an Occlumens overnight," Severus said in a controlled voice.

Albus' eyes lost their twinkle; that was always a cause for concern. He gave a long thought before slowly saying, "It might be a long shot but if someone with power managed to tap into the boy's mind they could be controlling him, which would account for the sudden skill in Occlumency," the Headmaster stated. Now that was a worrying thought.

Severus spoke again his dark eyes glinting, "That is not all. I wasn't able to reach the minds of the students he sat near, a Miss Granger and Mr Weasley."

The Weasley's had nearly always been exclusively Gryffindors although admittedly there were a few Hufflepuffs in the mix. As the Head of Gryffindor house she had been disappointed not to get all of Molly's children epically after she had promised to keep a close eye over Ronald. His parents were worried about him, perhaps with good reason.

"What should we do Albus?" she asked.

To any other the scene would look odd; two professors, top of their fields, looking to the aged man for orders with awe but it was Dumbledore and neither teacher could really see their lives any differently than accepting his views.

The Headmaster gave the question some thought before pushing his half-moon glasses back up his nose. "We'll keep a close eye on the three of them and decide a course of action based on their behaviour. We must keep them in our sights or our only hope might be lost to the darkness," the words left a solemn and dark feel in the air and both adults nodded, they would trust the Headmaster's judgement.

* * *

Ron awoke in a sweat. He had another nightmare. This time it had been Harry instead of one of the usual family members that had gone on a killing spree. Shivering Ron bunched up in his blanket and suppressed the dream as far down as it would go. He didn't need Hermione, or worse, Harry finding out about this. Besides he knew it was stupid, he had the same dream almost every week with a different person stalking around St Ottery Catchpole with a sharp glittering knife, stabbing every- Ron whimpered.

"Are you okay Ron?" the cold voice of Harry Potter asked. Ron felt a chill run through him but ignored it.

Ron had to struggle to keep his voice level, "Yeah mate, sorry about that. I had a bad dream," he muttered.

"No worries, I was up already," was all the reply Ron got.

Ron waited a few agonising moments before he heard the bathroom door snap shut and the shower getting turned on. Sighing he collected himself. He hated the nightmares but by now he knew how to deal with them.

Once he was calm he snatched his knife, which was on the bedside table still in the mokeskin pouch. He wasn't sure why but playing with the knife, twirling it in his hand, kept him calm. Maybe it was because he knew he could protect himself should the dream ever become reality.

Hearing the shower stop Ron knew he needed to proceed with the day and quickly collected a uniform for the day.

* * *

When Hermione woke a few hours later her dorm was bustling with girls getting ready. A pretty little Indian girl was brushing her long black hair when Hermione quickly went for her shower. When she got out the girl was still brushing her perfectly straight hair. Hermione gave a snort and started trying to get her tie to sit properly.

Hermione had never tied a tie before and had no clue about how to get it right. She called out to Mandy Brocklehurst, a red head who looked the friendliest. All she got was a distracted 'hmmm' from the girl who was putting make up on.

"Um, could you help me with the tie? I don't actually know how to tie it up," Hermione asked shyly.

Mandy gave her a slow head-to-toe look of disgust and spoke firmly, "No." The girl went back to her lipstick, which was a delightful shade of harlot red.

Hermione gave a look of outrage and then picked up her satchel with a scheming smirk. She knew exactly how to deal with bullies.

"I'm so sorry Mandy. Oh by the way you have a huge zit on your face," Hermione announced in a cheerfully as she stepped closer to the red headed girl. Hermione's voice had gotten the attention of their other dorm mates.

Mandy turned back to Hermione and said in a scathing voice, "I don't believe I do."

Hermione squinted at the girl's clean forehead, "Oh silly me." And with that she walked off. Hermione was at the top of the stairs when a piercing shriek was heard. Hermione gave a low chuckle and continued down the stairs.

When she got to the second floor of the common room she saw her two boys pouring over two thick textbooks and as she drew near she realised that they were in a mental conversation that she couldn't even feel. Feeling a bit neglected she took a seat beside them.

"Oh, hey Hermione," Ron said cheerfully flashing her large a grin.

Harry didn't look up from his book but she heard the whispered, "Good Morning," and felt him pressing on her mind and let him in.

_We are discussing non-human rights, 'Mione. _Harry sent frustrated, _Ron thinks that humans should be put above non-humans. Please help me out here, tell him that Werewolves have as much right to good jobs and pay as we do._

Hermione could feel Ron's internal growl. _I don't think that. I just stated that I could understand someone refusing a Werewolf a job or giving him lower pay as he is a risk to the business, both heath and economic wise._

_Wrong Ron, a Werewolf is no more dangerous than any other human outside of the full moon. Any jobs that do not take place on the night of the full moon shouldn't affect a person's ability to get a job or his pay. The Werewolf is human over ninety percent of the time._

As interesting as their argument was Hermione knew it was going nowhere, each boy being stubborn as hell, so she spoke up.

"What got you two started on this anyway?" she whispered out loud.

Harry put down the book and grinned sheepishly, "We checked the noticeboard and the debate team put the topic for Saturday up early, 'Non-human rights with a focus on Werewolves, Vampires and dangerous beings'. We started discussing which side we would take and it kind of escalated." Ron nodded also looking guilty.

Hermione laughed softly at them, "Do either of you remember what else the notice board said?"

Ron shook his head but Harry closed his eyes and recited each notice;

"Aside from the debate team's first message there was a location of their first meeting as well as for the gobstones club, potions club and the chess team. There was also a list of the school and Ravenclaw house rules and an old notice about a dead student from 1943," Harry chanted in a bored voice, "Oh and a notice that said timetables are passed out after breakfast."

Hermione gave a quick smile, "Then should we go before you two fire up again?"

Ron nodded and then squinted at her, "How did you get your tie in a knot?"

* * *

By the time the trio arrived at the Great Hall, Hermione's tie now fixed, they were engaged in a friendly argument.

"If you were a werewolf would you be so considerate of your employer giving you less pay?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded, "You would then be juggling money and finances on top of the complications of being a werewolf."

"This is so not fair! You're ganging up on me," Ron stated as they sat at the table of blue.

Harry gave the red head a feral grin, "It's not our fault that we share the same opinions."

With a groan Ron mentally admitted defeat, "For now," he added out loud.

Across from them at the Slytherins' table Ron could see two first years, Crabbe and Goyle, eagerly stuffing their faces by the handful. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and pointed them out.

"They're going to choke eating like that," he said out loud.

Hermione and Harry snorted and picked out their breakfasts. Ron did the same, choosing only from what the other two had selected, after all that was the only way to be sure that the food wasn't contaminated.

As Hermione finished her first bite of French toast she gestured to him, as if to say 'it's clean.' He nodded gratefully and took a large clean bite off his own toast.

"Are you afraid of choking? And what about diabetes?" she asked softly.

Feeling her mind Ron realized that she was curious by his habits. He shook his head, "I chew thoroughly and other than that I'm not going to be able to prevent choking. I simply never eat alone," then he raised an eyebrow confused, "What is diabetes?"

Hermione frowned and chanted, probably word for word from some sort of muggle book, "A disorder of the metabolism characterized by inadequate production or utilization of insulin and resulting in excessive amounts of glucose in the body."

He gave her a blank look before turning to Harry for translation. He looked just as blank.

"Oh, honestly," Hermione sighed, "it means that your body can't process certain chemicals like sugar properly and that can make you very sick. It can sometimes develop from eating excess fatty foods." (1)

"Oh," Ron said, he thought he understood. He looked down at his pile of sausages and bacon before putting half of it back, "thanks Hermione." Had he said it to anyone else it would have seemed sarcastic but Hermione smiled appreciatively and went back to her toast.

For a few minutes they sat eating silently, Ron could feel Harry buzzing with an idea.

_What has you so excited?_ He sent.

_Imagine magically strengthening muggle diseases. The potential for warfare would be astronomical. There would be so much money involved and not to mention being able to play with fatal diseases like that. Can you think about the power one would have by introducing bio-chemistry and magic?_

Ron didn't totally understand everything that Harry was thinking but from the visions accompanying the message it he got the gist. He understood that it could lead to thousands of people, mainly muggles, dying horribly. And what was worse was that Harry understood that too and yet still thought about benefits and the fun side. Ron couldn't believe that this was the same boy who had been arguing about equality for non-humans not ten minutes ago.

_Harry aside from the huge amount of people that would be bound to suffer from that there is also the fact that it is very risky. First, you could make and mistake and kill yourself and second, you could get us all killed if a Death Eater or some lunatic decided to unleash a disease on the school._

Ron could feel Harry's enthusiasm deflate.

_You're right. I wasn't really serious about it, it was just fun to think about really,_ Harry sent with a mental pout.

Ron wanted to laugh but instead just sent Harry his amusement. The bond between their minds seemed to react completely to their wills and worked so well that they were consciously able to send emotions via the link. It was really strong after only one night. Ron realized that the link would probably start to set itself even deeper into their minds soon. Later they might even start sharing dreams at night.

Looking up at the head table Ron noticed Professor McGonagall narrowing her eyes at Harry. After a few moments she hadn't let up and Ron quietly sent a message to alert Hermione. She could let Harry know.

* * *

Harry felt Ron's amusement at his mental antics. It was that feeling Ron's amusement was different to feeling his own. Actually it was very similar only there was a clear sense of difference and separation to the emotion and it was his mind that seemed to just know that it had come from Ron rather than Hermione or himself. It was completely weird and otherwise indescribable.

Harry was brought out of his musings by a tap on the shoulder from Hermione.

"What?" he asked slightly annoyed.

She gestured to the head table where Professor McGonagall was staring at Harry. The Gryffindor Head looked away as she realized she was caught.

"I thought that the Professors wouldn't be as caught up in your fame," Hermione whispered teasingly, "I hope McGonagall realizes she is too old for you."

Harry shook his head with a laugh, "McGonagall is probably still trying to work out how I ended up in Ravenclaw when my parents were in Gryffindor. Did you know that she was so convinced that I was a Gryffindor she even introduced herself as my 'future-Head-of-House' and got this little knowing smirk when I told her that I didn't think I was Gryffindor material. Nice to know I wiped that smirk away."

He noticed Ron frown.

"Ron? Do you think differently?" Harry asked suddenly unsure of his statements.

Ron shook his head, "You're mostly right, I think, there is just something I can't put my finger on about that look. Yesterday that Snape guy looked at me with the same thing only he had a much more guarded expression so I couldn't identify any emotion. It's like a glint, I think it's magical. And whatever it is it seems to be pissing them off."

Harry frowned, none of that sounded good.

"Can you use magic to read minds?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry gasped, "Legilimency; it's a magical art that invades people's minds. Could they be using this against us?"

Ron quickly looked around reminding Harry of a paranoid old man he had met once.

_Use the link, if they are seeing our thoughts it won't matter but maybe something else is going on and it would be better to be safe,_ Ron sent.

He had a point and so Harry sent back all the information he knew about legilimency and its counter skill occlumency.

_You said that it was making them angry?_ Hermione asked.

_Yeah but it's more like they are confused. Maybe they don't understand how our minds are connected?_ Ron suggested.

Harry sighed, _We can't rely on assumptions with this. We need to find out for sure what they are up to._

_How?_ They both sent.

_We follow them. There is no way to get the information from their minds so we must try to get it another way. We should stalk them, they are probably working together so they must meet up at some point right?_

Ron and Hermione shared a look. As time lengthened Harry became annoyed as it was obvious that they were discussing his plan without him. Finally Hermione weakly sent;

_What if they know we are following them? They might sense us._

Harry bit into a piece of toast thoughtfully, _We have to learn occlumency._

Just then Flitwick the Head Ravenclaw called out for first years. The rest of the hall was leaving, classes must have begun.

* * *

(1) I'm sorry if any of this information is wrong, this is simply what I understood from and a short film in Physical Education. Please let me know if my explanation is incorrect.

* * *

Hello. Interestingly I (almost) got hit with a cyclone. I'm fine and no one died (from the cyclone) which is good. But it did make my story wait due to a backup of 'emergency homework', whatever that means. I'm listening to _One Republic – Marching On _as I write this. It fits Harry Potter so perfectly I think. Expect the next chapter to actually have classes, also some more twists involving my two favourite Weasleys.


	11. Chapter 11, Gred and Forge

Chapter 11, Gred and Forge

"speech" – speech

^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' - written

* * *

Ron turned scrutinizing eyes onto Professor Flitwick. The short teacher's expression held no hidden meaning as he ushered the first year Ravenclaws over to him. Flitwick called out names and handed out timetables.

'**Monday –** 8.00, History of Magic - 9.30, Charms – 11.00, Potions – 12.30, Lunch – 1.30, DADA – 3.00, Herbology – 4.30, Astronomy

**Tuesday –** 8.00, Charms - 9.30, History of Magic – 11.00, Potions – 12.30, Lunch – 1.30, Transfiguration – 3.00, Astronomy – 4.30, DADA

**Wednesday –** 8.00, Herbology - 9.30, Transfiguration – 11.00, History of Magic - 12.30, Lunch – 1.30, Potions- 3.00, Charms – 4.30, Free Period - 11.00, Astronomy

**Thursday –** 8.00, Free Period - 9.30, Astronomy - 11.00, Herbology – 12.30, Lunch – 1.30, Transfiguration – 3.00, History of Magic – 4.30, DADA

**Friday –** 8.00, Free Period - 9.30, DADA – 11.00, Herbology – 12.30, Lunch – 1.30, Charms – 3.00, Potions – 4.30, Transfiguration' (1)

A quick, and noisy, comparison of schedules revealed that all of Ravenclaw had the same classes. The group quietened when Flitwick motioned for quiet, unlike the Gryffindors who were still chatting loudly.

"Thank you Ravenclaws. Now you'll notice that your first period is with me. We will be staying here for the time being until the Headmaster has outlined a few things to you and then after we will move into the classroom. Can I have silence as I quickly do rollcall?" the professor asked.

Rollcall was uneventful until Flitwick came to Harry's name and gave a little squeak and a smug grin to the Gryffindor Head who had been looking their way. Ron and Harry shared a significant look. It didn't bode well for them that anyone was taking an interest in Harry.

It was about ten minutes after the Ravenclaws had finished the roll that the Gryffindors and Hufflepuff were ready. Professor Dumbledore stood and smile benevolently over them.

"Welcome to your first year of Hogwarts. For many of you this will be your first year of away from your guardians and for some of you it will be your first year of schooling."

Some of the students shared frowns; many of the Muggleborns didn't understand that Wizards didn't have primary educations while the Purebloods didn't understand that Muggles did.

"Hogwarts has a great tradition spanning over nine centuries. With this in mind I do implore you to follow the schools rules which can be found on the various noticeboards around the school. For a full list of banned items, including love potions and poisons," here Dumbledore fixed everyone with a cold stare, "please see Caretaker Filch."

He gestured towards a creepy, filthy looking man who was glaring at students. A cat was nuzzling his ankle affectionately. Ron quickly decided to stay clear of the caretaker and his cat.

"By now you all know your respective heads of house," Dumbledore continued, "I'll let your teachers introduce themselves during their classes. And while I am speaking of classes you should know that you will have class with the rest of your house however some lessons, such as Potions, Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts, are shared between houses. You will find yourselves paired with every other house for at least one lesson."

At this declaration the Gryffindors and Slytherins burst into groans and glaring, even a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws shared the sentiment. It seemed the ever growing feud between Slytherin and the rest of the school had already been instilled into the first years. Ron could feel Hermione's outrage mixed with Harry's calm analysis of who was more outraged than who.

"Settle," Headmaster Dumbledore said and surprisingly the students did. "Now I'm sure you are anxious to start filling those brains but your Head Boy and Girl wish to speak a few words to you first."

As Dumbledore stepped back Ron took a moment to study the Head Prefects. The boy was tall gangly and fair with light blond hair and blue eyes. He was a Hufflepuff and almost familiar. The girl was a Slytherin and almost his polar opposite; dark haired, full lipped and short.

"Hello, first years," the girl spoke in a deep Romanian accent, "I am Ingrid Elsewood and this is Adam Abbott and we are the Head Prefects."

Ron gave the boy an astounded look. Adam Abbott was a genius; at only aged thirteen he had become the youngest Wizard to have their own regular segment in 'Magic International'. He had also been featured in the Daily Prophet for having the highest recorded grade for a Runes O.W.L. in history.

Beside him he could hear Harry having his own awestruck moment only over the girl. Elsewood was an extremely old and wealthy surname. The family was a dying pureblood name that majored in magical horse breeding and landownership. They apparently owned an entire champion Quidditch team and field too. (2)

Adam addressed the first years next with a nervous voice, "We just want you guys to know that we are here if a-any of you are in need of help and that we want to hear suggestions about the running of the school if you have any. S-so if you see either of us around the school feel free to approach us."

Ingrid smirked and added, "We aren't as mean as we look."

As they stepped back Professor Snape called out, "Okay Slytherins follow me to Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Ron watched as the Slytherins filed out. Then Flitwick herded the Ravenclaws out to charms. He silently linked hands with Harry who linked hands with Hermione. The link between them almost felt solid for a split second causing Ron to wonder how much of their friendship would be attributed to it.

* * *

Fred and George had a secret; even they didn't know which one was which. Scarily enough for the first four years of their life they had always been known as a duo and never as separate beings. Their mother never understood them when they said that they didn't know whether it was Fred or George had teased his brother.

So they decided to become individuals, however, it didn't feel right to just pick who would be Fred and who would be George so they gave themselves new names. The one with the mole one his hip became Forge while the other was named Gred. Forge was grateful for the little mole because it was the only way to tell them apart. Sometimes he got confused as to whether he was Gred or Forge but the mole always let him know.

It was at times like now, sitting at the back of Ancient Runes, that identity crisis hit hardest. Their teacher, Professor Babbling, wasn't accustomed to them yet and had naively called the name Fred Weasley separate to its other half.

Immediately both Weasleys replied, "Here."

Babbling looked over her crescent moon specs sternly at the twins, "And which one of you is Fred Weasley."

"I am," the twins said with conviction.

Neither wanted to give up being Fred this morning. Usually they would immediately fold into an unspoken agreement on who was who but sometimes they both wanted to fade into the background as the more silent George or to take the limelight as the outspoken twin, Fred. Now was one of those times.

"No I'm Fred."

"Stop stealing my identity, _George_."

"Like I would, George."

Babbling shouted over them, "Would the two of you decide who is Fred!"

Gred gave Forge a small smirk and said, "We both are, Professor."

"Who is Fred?" Babbling asked exasperated.

The twins replied together, "We are Fred."

* * *

The Charms classroom was on the second floor in Classroom 2E but apparently on Mondays to Fridays the door was on the third floor. Hermione really didn't understand the physics of it all but Harry's mind seemed to comprehend the logic. Ron just looked bored like a door leading somewhere different on weekends was as normal as gravity, which she realized it must be to him.

The three of them found themselves seats in the second row of desks. Hermione was surprised at the number of desks considering that there couldn't be more than ten students to each class. (3)

Their classmates had already split into groups of three or four. Michael, Anthony, Mandy and Padma were sitting at the back talking about their schedules. In the front row Terry, Lisa and Morag were quietly talking about what spells they would learn in charms.

Hermione, Harry and Ron sat silently with their quills on their desks waiting for their teacher to speak up. He was currently stacking a bunch of books on top of one another. Hermione soon realized why as Flitwick stood on them to reach the top of a lectern at the front of the class.

"Well, well class. We only have forty five minutes left of this lesson so we will have to settle with a theory lesson today."

The back group groaned. Hermione decided that they were the students that managed to blur the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor lines.

"Okay hear is a basic overview of Magical Theory," Flitwick said cheerfully.

Hermione could hear Harry's mental complaint. She would trust Harry's research over the textbook's any day.

She didn't bother to take notes from the textbook; the information was already committed to memory. She noticed that Ron was while Harry had taken out his research and was working on paraphrasing things to make it simpler.

"Miss Granger, why are you not writing this down?" Professor Flitwick asked midway through explaining Gamp's law.

"Sir, I have perfect recall. I have the whole book memorize already, I figured that written notes were over kill," she said softly.

She could feel the eyes of the kids at the back on her. Luckily those at the front seemed too enraptured in their notes to pay attention to her.

"Very well Miss Granger, perhaps you would like to finish explaining Gamp's Law?" he asked.

Flitwick obviously wanted to know if she was lying or not. He had already explained the low quality that conjured objects have all that was left were the limitations. Hermione started to recite her eyes rolling back slightly;

"Gamp's law has five exceptions. These are money, food, love, life and knowledge. They are unable to be conjured, transfigured or banished and as such can't apply to the rule. Other diff-" she was cut off.

"Thank you Miss Granger, ten points to Ravenclaw for being so prepared," Professor Flitwick beamed.

Hermione smiled shyly as he returned to reading the paragraph out loud and explaining any queries they had. Hermione fell into a mental conversation with Harry over his research and how to further it. Often they scratched out or wrote over his original notes.

All too soon the class was over but as they packed up their stuff Flitwick held her and Harry back for a moment. Ron leant against the door waiting for them but Flitwick didn't seem to mind if he noticed.

"Mister Potter, I'm going to assume that you too have memorized the text as you didn't pay any attention to the lecture," the Charms Professor said with a tiny smile.

Harry nodded, "Ron has as well Professor. He simply wanted a copy of the notes just in case."

Hermione stifled a chuckle; Ron's whole thought process could be described as 'just in case'.

Flitwick gave them all a bright smile, "Very well done then. I always enjoy hearing my Ravenclaws going above and beyond in the pursuit of knowledge. Incidentally what were you two working on during class?" he asked pointing at Harry and Hermione.

Harry got a wild gleam in his eyes and started to almost rant about his research on Magical Theory. Hermione couldn't help but notice that no matter Harry's excitement he was still purposely leaving out certain information, such as the wandless magic notes. Flitwick however noticed nothing and nodded along to the idea's Harry was spouting. Most of the information was going over her head. Hermione couldn't believe how much information Harry had managed to gather in such a short amount of time.

"Well Mister Potter, your theory that it is knowledge rather than unknown magical properties that govern the limits to Gamp's law is indeed unique. It would explain a lot of inconsistences as well. A seventh year student was suggesting something similar last year however your theories are far more in depth and elaborate."

He paused thoughtfully for a second, "I might be able to assist you with such research, if you need access to the restricted section of the library just ask me and I could look over some of your notes and maybe get your work published. If you need further assistance I can suggest a helper; Adam Abbott has his own section of 'Magic International' that deals with the exact type of charms work you are investigating."

Hermione watched Harry's eyes widen with surprise and something akin to desire; a lust of knowledge.

"Thank you so much sir," he said enthusiastically, "I had almost hit a dead patch in my research because I didn't know where to look for more reference information," _and I didn't have the ability to test my power theory or my resurrection theory,_ Hermione heard him add silently. She had no idea what either of those theories meant but they must have been a part of the data that Harry was withholding from Flitwick.

The short Professor gave them a note for their next teacher to excuse them for being over half an hour late, "Not a problem, Mister Potter. Now you three best hurry off to History of Magic, it's in Classroom 4F which is one floor up."

Hermione felt the urge to roll her eyes but reframed. Instead she thanked him and grabbed Harry and Ron by the sleeves. Together they tried to navigate their way to Classroom 4F.

* * *

McGonagall arrived back at her office from escorting her first years to Herbology

"Ah, Misters Weasley, why am I not surprised?" she said, a slight laugh colouring her otherwise exasperated tone.

Fred, she knew he was the more outgoing twin, grinned cheekily up at the sixty-six year old, "Because you are very smart Professor? Am I right?" (4)

Minerva. Most people would think that the twins would be on her hit list however nothing could be farther from the truth. As their Head of House she had seen the twins grow, if only slightly, these past two years. They sort of reminded her of a young James and Sirius or even herself and her sister when they were younger. If anything this meant that she was perhaps too lenient on the boys.

"Come in then, might as well try to wrap this up before the next lesson," she sighed.

She ushered the red haired boys into her office and sat at her desk.

"Well what have you both done this time?" she said tucking a lock of black hair back into the tight bun it had escaped from.

Minerva wished she got to see the twins outside of disciplinary meetings. They were smart kids but they got in so much trouble.

The other one, probably George, spoke pointing at his twin, "He claimed to be Fred again!"

Fred growled, "I am Fred."

Minerva raised an eyebrow at George, "Stop pretending to be Fred. Most might not see it but there is a difference between you two."

The twins simply smirked and shifted minutely in their seats. Now it seemed that Fred was George and George was Fred. She blinked. It seemed that she didn't know her students as well as she thought.

"You boys do pay attention to details don't you," she said not letting their antics throw her off.

They blinked at her in sync, she noted wryly that they must have some sort of subconscious connection, "Professor?" they enquired softly.

Minerva realized that she had just thrown them off like they had planned to do to her. She realized something else that brought a smirk to her face. In the distance she heard the bell ring and swiftly stood. At the door she pause and turned to lightly comment to the boys;

"By the way, the left one has a lower voice."

* * *

(1) The subjects are 90 minutes long as you might have noticed. Each subject should have four lessons let me know if you notice any mistakes with the timetable.

(2) Yes these are OC's but no they aren't going to be major characters. I simply need a few good connections for the Trio to make so I used my main RP characters. I promise they won't take over the story. Draco is more likely to do that as he tried to make himself the star of this chapter.

(3) Yes Rowling says that the class sizes are more like thirty BUT that would mean that there should be more teachers at Hogwarts. Eg. Two Potions Masters, two charms professors, etc. So I'm working with the ten students per class and forty per year direction.

(4) This is her canon age apparently. BTW Minnie would probably look about forty/forty-five due to Wizards aging slower.

* * *

I can't believe we haven't even reached lunch of the first day yet. This is taking so much longer than I had planned. Oh well. Not all days are going to be described as in depth as this but I think getting a good look into the Trio's personalities as well as day-to-day life at Hogwarts is very important.

As always PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews, the longer the better. I particularly love you commenting or offering what you want to see. After all I want to get better at writing and that will only happen if YOU GIVE me lots of FEEDBACK!


	12. Chapter 12, History and Potions

Chapter 12, History, Potions and the Transfiguration Courtyard

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' - written

***PAGEBREAK***

They were fifty five minutes late when they found the History of Magic class. Unfortunately it seemed that this would be the trio's worst class. Neither Harry nor Hermione knew much about Wizarding History; both having failed to memorize the book. Ron however disagreed with nearly everything the teacher said.

Professor Binns was a ghost and, in the nature of ghosts, he didn't except change. While one might think that history never changes they would be very wrong. What you see in history class is affected by your culture, your beliefs and recent history. The history of the goblin wars should have been taught differently since goblins became allies to wizards however Binns was still using old bigoted lesson plans.

What was worse was that the twins were right that Binns never thought to make things interesting. His class seemed to be comprised of him read out loud from the textbook. By the end of the lesson Harry and Hermione had started to read the textbook by themselves, quicker and less mind numbing, while Ron chose to plan out his next training session.

In Harry's mind History of Magic would become study hall for them. When he learned silencing spells he might even be able to cast one on Professor Binns without him noticing, then they would be able to study in peace.

After that failure of a class, Harry pulled Hermione and Ron to follow Lisa, Morag and Terry who at least looked like they knew where the potions room was. It was only a short ten minutes before they managed to clamber into the classroom. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he realised they were the first ones there.

Professor Snape looked up from his work and gave them all a glare while ordering them to find seats. Lisa and her friends took the second row seats this time, no doubt scared of the Professor. Harry followed Ron and Hermione's lead in taking the seats behind them.

The room was eerily cold and felt rather like a cheap horror movie set. The walls seemed to be lined with glowing green jars, the only source of light Harry could see, that were filled with pickled dead animals. Harry felt the air around them grow suddenly warmer and looked over to see Ron staring at Hermione's hand in shock. He hadn't seen it but Harry was sure that Hermione had used a wandless heating charm. Harry gave his friends a look to remind them where they were.

The trio had only just managed to unload their books when the door swung open yet again. Only instead of the rest of the Ravenclaws there was, what appeared to be, the whole load Hufflepuff first years. Vaguely Harry remembered the Headmaster saying that Potions was a double class.

Snape once again barked the order and the Hufflepuffs nervously filled in the opposite side of the room. Clearly the Hufflepuffs preferred the company of their own. It took another five minutes for the rest of Ravenclaw to arrive. As they hastily sat down in the front row, without a word being spoken to them, the Slytherin Head finally addressed the class;

"I'll allow that this is only your third class however you must all be aware that I will not tolerate tardiness from this moment on," he said smoothly.

The class nodded and Harry expected the teacher to continue lecturing them or to introduce himself however Professor Snape simply picked up a sheet of paper a called the roll. At Harry's name he paused, expression still unrecognisable, before continuing without comment.

Once the roll was called the Slytherin Head stood and moved to the centre of the room and spoke in a silkier tone, as if talking about a loved one, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe that this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death."

Here the awed whisper left Professor Snape and he practically snarled at the class, "If you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach!"

Harry and Ron shared a grin over Hermione's head, after the last class, potions actually seemed worth-whiled.

"Potter!" the teacher suddenly snapped, black eyes studying him, "What would I get if powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry remembered reading something about that very situation but he hadn't spent as much time on the school texts as he should have. Suddenly Ron was in his head.

"The Draught of the Living Dead, sir," Harry outwardly echoed hoping that Ron wasn't messing him around.

The Professor didn't not react save to turn his onyx eyes to Hermione, "Granger, where would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?"

Hermione seemed uncommonly relaxed considering he knew that she hadn't even glanced at the text book. "A bezoar is a hard pellet made up of the indigestible matter in the stomach of an animal," there was a brief pause and Harry could feel Ron adding to her answer, "of course magic wise a goat's stomach would be best."

Professor Snape drawled out, "I asked you only for where to find it not what a bezoar is. Do not be so presumptuous in future." Dark looks were thrown to the professor. "Weasley," he snapped before anyone could argue the point, "What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?"

Ron smirked slightly, "They are both common terms for the plant officially known as aconitum or aconite."

The professor sneered but eventually said, "Fifteen points to Ravenclaw but two points off for Miss Granger's arrogance. Now-"

The lesson continued much the same way with Professor Snape writing up the instructions to a boil-curing potion and snapping at students who talked over him. Harry realised quickly that potions was essentially cooking but far more precise. Hermione on the other hand was enraptured by the whole process and spent the ten minutes during which the professor was explaining looking up exactly why each ingredient had its effect.

Ron went and got three loads of ingredients as Harry and Hermione preheated all the cauldrons and filled them with water. As the water boiled and Ron started to return with the last group of things Hermione and Harry started to prepare the lacewings.

Suddenly Harry swore, _Guys this potion needs to be stirred with our wands!_

Hermione frowned at the board but Ron nodded his head,_ I can't believe you guys didn't read ahead. Don't worry, I'll stir all the cauldrons._

Harry and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and sent their thanks.

In the end they didn't end up working on their own potions but collaborating as a group. Harry, who was growing annoyed with Hermione's slow deliberateness, took over the preparation of each ingredient. He simmered flobberworm mucus and chopped the tips off porcupine quills. Ron did a lot of the stirring and pouring. Hermione worked as a sort all round task manager letting Harry know what ingredients needed preparing next and telling Ron when one of the potions was ready for the next step.

At the end Hermione told Ron to keep it over the heat a while longer.

"But Hermione, its turning pink," Harry complained.

Both the board and the book clearly read that the potion needed to be heated until red.

"Weren't you listening to Professor Snape when he said that the lightest shade of red is best?" the wild haired witch scolded, "Honestly just make sure the potion is off the heat before it goes white and it'll be perfect."

It appeared rightly so as when they produced their potions to Professor Snape he gave Hermione a approving nod and said, "You three stay back a moment."

After everyone else was dismissed for lunch and the trio had packed up their belongings Professor Snape stalked over to their table.

"While I applaud your efforts do try to do your own work in my class from now on. Believe me that the only reason you have not had points taken is because you have saved me from making three extra boil potions. Now get out."

The trio didn't need to be told twice and fled the dungeons quickly.

***PAGEBREAKER***

Harry didn't eat lunch, choosing instead to read as Ron managed to consume enough food for the both of them. Hermione frowned as she watched this, Harry of the summer had often complained that Professor Sprout was "fattening him up", and even after this the boy was still stick thin.

"Harry, do you want a roll?" she asked concerned.

Harry shook his head not even looking up from his copy of, _'Magical Theory'_.

"I really think you should eat something Harry, it is the first day of school and you need your energy," she pressed.

Harry glared over the top of his book, "I don't like eating lunch."

Hermione let the matter drop but made loud noises of enjoyment over her own lunch which consisted of a steak sandwich.

"So," Ron said awkwardly obviously trying to break the tension, "Do you think McGonagall will try something in her class?"

The trio looked up at the teacher in question to find her in hushed conversation with Professor Snape. The headmaster wasn't present for this meal it seemed.

"You don't think she really would do you?" Hermione said aghast.

Harry nodded, "Probably, we should try to not look in her eyes. It the only precaution we have at the moment."

Ron and Hermione nodded together before quickly finishing their meals.

The trio left for the transfiguration room early, with directions from a friendly Gryffindor fourth year, Oliver Wood.

When they arrived in the Middle Courtyard, per Wood's instructions they wasted ten minutes trying to locate classroom 1B before they managed to follow a tabby cat to the door. Ron was wary of the creature but both Harry and Hermione crouched down to pet it.

"Hey there girl," Harry whispered scratching behind the tabby's ears, "Did you ditch your owner?"

The tabby gave him a proud reproachful glare and Hermione chuckled scratching the opposite ear. The Tabby meowed annoyed and batted its paw at them.

Hermione huffed, really weren't cats supposed to like being patted.

Harry gave the cat an amused grin, "Very well miss independent cat, we shan't bother thee further," and he bowed.

Ron gave Harry a looked that clearly showed that he thought the younger boy crazy. Hermione cracked up into pearls of laughter which grew as the cat gave Harry a glare before slipping through a hole in the classroom door. With the cat gone Harry and Hermione lent against each other laughing loudly.

"It wasn't that funny guys," Ron said but his words were ruined by a chuckle in his voice.

"Get your grubby paws off of me!" a loud female voice cried.

The Hermione turned to see three Hufflepuff boys messing with a large stone gargoyle.

"Hey you there, leave her alone!" Hermione yelled walking over towards the boys.

The boys raised their heads and gave her a menacing glare but Hermione own didn't waver. She had long given up being a victim to bullies. She took another step forward only to have Ron tug on her sleeve. Turning back to the boys she saw Ron's blue eyes imploring her to stay back while Harry was simply watching with interest. She shrugged Ron off.

"You three! Does it make you feel tough to hassle something that can't fight back? Make you feel like big men?" she spat at them in disgust.

The tallest boy gave her a snarl, "Stay out of it girlie. Don't interfere with things that don't concern you."

Hermione concentrated, she had done this a few times at her primary school but she wasn't sure how it would work against other wizards. Feeling the magic flow through her she opened her mouth and screamed, the power charged her voice causing it to be almost deafeningly loud and produced a strong gale that knocked off one boy's hat.

"Crap, let's go. This chick is a banshee," the leader muttered wiping flecks of spit off his face.

Hermione smiled sweetly as the puffs hurried away but once they were out of sight she groaned in exhaustion.

"Thank you child!" the gargoyle called out and Hermione nodded in acknowledgment as the boys approached her.

"Bloody Hell 'Mione!" Ron said softly, "What if they had attacked you?"

Hermione shrugged, "They were picking on a stone they were too cowardly to attack me besides if they had attacked it would have been three against three and Ron knows up to fourth year spells. See there wasn't so much risk."

Harry shook his head, "You're wrong, it would have been one against three or maybe two against three, either way Ron wouldn't have joined."

Hermione quickly flicked her eyes to Ron; the redhead was staring at the ground ashamed.

"B-but I thought we were friends?" she whispered and watched as Harry laid his hand on Ron's shoulder in the slightest gesture of comfort.

"Ron has extreme Thanatophobia no matter how much he might wish to assist you he psychologically can't; his body will simply refuse to be put near harm. In short you'd be lucky if you were his younger sister threatened with death and he came to your aid."

The look of fear Ron had as he held her back wormed its way to the front of Hermione's mind.

"Why wouldn't you help?" she asked in a subdue voice.

Harry shrugged, "Unless I could feel pain through my mind then it would not be my fight."

Hermione opened her mouth to yell at him and explain how wrong standing for injustice was when the bell rang. Just as this happened Lisa and her friends ran up to them.

The smaller girl looked at them with relief, "Good the teacher isn't here yet so we are not late then?"

Harry gave the three a warm smile and said in a teasing voice, "You are late you're just lucky the teacher is as well."

But as his eyes met her own Hermione could see the hardness, he was challenging her to continue berating him in front of the new comers. She bit her tongue and glared back at him. Doubt crept into her mind, perhaps she was too hasty accepting a bond with them.

***PAGEBREAK***

Sorry once again for the lateness of update, gosh I had under estimated how much stuff I do offline. Anyway, I didn't get around to answering any reviews (sorry) but I quickly want to address one of them here. "weeksauce" brought up an excellent point, I have sought of super-powered the trio so I thought about what I could do about it without re-writing the chapters I've already done. I've found the solution and shall be striving to make this story a little more realistic.

Anyway enough with the boring stuff, this is the part where I beg all of you to REVIEW! Like weeksauce above tell me what you think about my story.

Anyway, anyway I'm currently working on two oneshots; one Drarry (Harry/Draco) and another Harmony (Hermione/Harry/'Mione threesome, yes I wrote that correctly). Review and let me know if (A) you want to see them and (B) which one you'd rather see first. I won't bother posting them if no one wants to see them.


	13. Chapter 13, Interlude of Friendship

Chapter 13, Interlude of Friendship

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' - written

* * *

The conflict lasted all the way through Transfiguration, though was briefly forgotten in the embarrassment of finding out the origins of the tabby. Ron had tried wandless transfiguration but quickly grew frustrated with it and so pulled out his wand, hidden in a homemade holster, and zapped the match. As a result Ron received ten points for being the first student to transfigure a match into a needle while Harry and Hermione's silent war ended up losing them those points as Hermione lost concentration and lit Harry's match on fire.

Needless to say the incident had only made Astronomy class worse. They were first informed that the subject required a lesson held at midnight on Wednesdays, which was something Ron hadn't noticed on the timetable, and found out that only Hermione had studied the required textbook. That led to Hermione showing off her knowledge and angering Harry to the point of almost cursing her.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, with the Gryffindors, turned out to be a joke as the teacher stuttered out to them that there would be no practical for first years and they were simply studying from the text book, something Ron had done years ago and that the other too had at least gotten half way through.

Luckily the tables in this classroom were two-seaters and Ron, rather than favour between his new friends, chose to sit down next to a shy boy called Neville. Looking back over his shoulder Ron saw that Harry was taking animatedly with Lisa Turpin while Hermione was sitting alone looking ready to hit someone. Resolutely he faced the front again knowing that no matter how lonely the girl looked he would only make things worse if he sat next to her.

All and all by the time classes were over Ron was fairly fed up with Harry and Hermione and no doubt they were with each other. He avoided both other Ravenclaws and left in search of someone sane and calm to talk to; and he knew just the person.

* * *

Minerva hadn't realised that she was being followed until a small hand shot out and started to scratch behind her ear. She almost let out a purr before controlling herself and looking up at her attacker. She was shocked to see Harry Potter and his friends appear so early to class.

"Hey there girl. Did you ditch your owner?" the boy said not letting up his scratching.

Affronted she released her claws and swiped at his hand. Too quickly he pulled back and her paw collided with air. The muggle-born, Granger, had the nerve to laugh and pet her in response. Yet again she swiped and missed causing both students to grin at each other.

"Very well miss independent cat, we shan't bother thee further."

And the boy bowed. Minerva gave a glare for being so patronizing but it had no effectiveness as Potter was too busy laughing with his friends. Deciding to leave now rather than put up with them any further she slipped away.

Once in the safety of her classroom she curled up on her desk and waited for the students to realize that the door was unlocked. During this time she reflected that Potter's interaction with her and his friends had been nothing short of normal for any eleven year old. Perhaps they were wrong and there was nothing different about any of the trio other than them rebelling against preconceived notions.

It was just after the bell had rung that some students hesitantly started to fill her class. Instantly she noticed a sudden rift between Potter and Granger that had most definitely not been there minutes ago. She pondered that for another five before the remaining students filed in, looking relieved that their teacher hadn't arrived. It took no further prompting to transform back into a human and scold the lot of them, whilst inwardly laughing at the white look on Granger's face. Minerva never did truly outgrow her prankster heart.

* * *

Ron was looking for the school library. After a following a few helpful Hufflepuff third years he managed to find his way there. It was easy to spot his brother as he was sitting at the biggest table with the most books surrounding him. Sitting with him was the Head Boy Adam Abbott.

Percy and Abbott were silently working their way through thick tomes. Peering between them he noticed that there notes were on an advanced Transfiguration thesis. Ron had to wonder why the boys were working together on the same topic; Percy was two years younger than Abbott so they couldn't be in the same class.

"Hello Percy," Ron said, grinning when both students jolted in surprise.

"Well, 'lo Ron. I didn't expect to see you so soon. Where are Harry and Hermione?" his brother asked.

With a sigh Ron sat down opposite his brother as Abbott, after briefly looking between the two Weasleys awkwardly, returned to his book without comment or introduction.

"Harry and Hermione are fighting and I really don't want to be involved," Ron confessed warily eyeing Abbott. Harry was after all a celebrity and a student could make a quick buck by selling information about his privet life to newspapers.

Percy put down 'The Path to Becoming a Legitimate Animagus' and calmly addressed him, "If Harry and Hermione are truly you friends then you are already involved. If you have to pick sides or choose between them then that is your decision but you cannot ignore the problem and hope it goes away."

"But I can't just pick a side. They both have good points and they are both equally right. How am supposed to be involved if I don't have an opinion?"

"Ron it's your life but if you want to stay friends with both of them then you have to talk to them. You cannot overlook their conflicts. Why don't you set them down and get them to talk about whatever it is that they are arguing about?"

Ron reflected over that for some time, weighing all the potentials of the situation. Realising that the conversation was finished Percy too returned to his book. The three students sat silently save for the turning of pages and the scratching of quills.

* * *

Hermione was distraught. She had been trying to find the library when she happened upon a strange ghost who misdirected her until she was lost before calling her some really foul names and leaving her stranded.

She tried to reach Ron through the bond but he was blocking her. She had even tried to contact Harry but he was doing the same. Cursing herself for being so helpless she tried to find somewhere she recognised.

It was only when she realised that she was going around in circles that she gave up and fell against the wall. It was sometime before she was able to regain her composure and wipe her face dry.

With rising panic she tried the mind link again, still neither boy answered her. In frustration she pulled her hair and screamed. For a few seconds she vented all the anger and distress that had been building since her tiff with Harry.

"You might want to try that again, I think there are people in Hogsmeade who didn't hear you," a soft voice drawled from behind her.

* * *

Sorry about the wait on this chapter. To be honest I'm still not happy with it. Not only it is fairly short but it's BORING! But I need this for my plans for the story overall.

PLEASE KEEP READING AND REVIEWING!


	14. Chapter 14, Planning for War

Chapter 14, Planning for War

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

speech – non-verbal speech

'words' – written/emphasis/title

* * *

Harry looked up at Hermione curiously. As far as he was concerned their almost friendship had been broken the second Hermione had stop speaking to him. He had been saddened by the split but unsurprised, after all who would want to be friends with the real him? Even Ron had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with either of them and the bond between them had been welded shut. So why was Hermione looking down at him guiltily like that?

"I-I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier. I was acting immaturely," she whispered softly, "Can you forgive me?"

Harry couldn't be more confused. Hadn't she herself been upset by something he had done? Why was she apologising?

"I thought you were angry of my lack of concern for your well-being?"

He was sitting in soft chair in the common room, his Herbology book open in front of him, there was no one close enough to hear his hard words. Though the prefect was shooting the first years concerned looks every few seconds.

Hermione must have caught him glancing at her because she spoke up, "I was until Penelope found me on the fourth floor. She had a long talk with me and I realised I have no right to expect either you or Ron to share every one of beliefs. I'm your friend because I want to be your friend not to turn you into a carbon copy of myself."

Harry was stunned. This girl was basically telling him that while she didn't like his beliefs she still wanted to be friends with him. Did she have ulterior motives? Was she crazy?

"So are we okay?"

The girl's voice was laced with worry but Harry's brain was stuck. He simply couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"Harry?"

He blinked and quickly put up a smile, "Of course. I'm sorry we don't agree but I'm glad we are friends again."

He saw the girl frown slightly but she nodded anyway.

"Are you going over Herbology? It's first up tomorrow morning. Can I join you?"

* * *

When Ron came down for dinner he was shocked to see Hermione and Harry laughing across their meals. He quickly fell into a seat beside them and replicated Hermione's entire meal on his own plate.

"Hey guys. What's so funny," he said relieved that he didn't need his plan any longer.

"Hi Ron. And it wasn't funny it was really, really mean what Harry just said," Hermione scolded though her laugh stole all bite from the words.

"What did you say?" he asked warily.

Harry grinned, "I just made the casual comment that Crabbe's patronus is obviously a steak and fries."

Ron burst out laughing and looked over at the boy in question. True enough the Slytherin had at least four steaks on his plate and was shovelling fistfuls of chips into his large mouth. His housemates looked very put out by this and even Goyle seemed disgusted.

Ron waited until he could speak without sniggering before saying, "That's cruel Harry, but oh so true."

The three fell into an easy silence that would have lasted until desert if Harry hadn't whispered.

"Ron, Hermione, they're looking at us again."

Ron looked to the teacher's table and sure enough Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore were all whispering and glancing their way.

"I think we should start with the occlumency research tonight," he suggested uneasily.

Harry quickly agreed as Hermione nodded solemnly. The teachers' spying had to stop and now it was a battle for privacy.

* * *

They decided to go to the library rather than their common room simply because the library had an index. It didn't take long for them to find three solid texts on occlumency and legilimency. They took two back to the common room (one was unable to be borrowed out).

"Harry!" Lisa called out and ran to him as they walked into the common room.

"Good evening Lisa," Harry greeted politely with a fake smile.

Lisa beamed at him, "Good evening. I was wondering if you had thought about the debate. Terry, Morag and I are going to be a team and we wanted you to join us."

For a few seconds Harry toyed with the idea of joining their team but decided against it the spat from earlier that day was still rather fresh and he didn't want to lose his association with Hermione or Ron.

"I'm so sorry Lisa but I already agreed to team up with Hermione and maybe Ron if we can get him on our side," he shot a grin at Ron, "I'd happily be on you team another week though."

Lisa looked disappointed but smirked at the last part, "I'll hold you to that Harry. Have a nice night."

Harry said his good byes and watched her bounce across the room to her team.

As they ascended the stairs Hermione mentally asked, _Why are you so nice to her? She's only using you._

Harry smirked inwardly, _I'm only using her so it works out in the end, besides she is rich and fairy smart not bad qualities._

_That's awful though. Even if it's mutual people shouldn't manipulate each other. They should show each other respect._

Harry snorted, _People should earn respect. Besides I'm just treating people as they treat me, I'm not in the wrong._

Hermione seemed like she wanted to press the issue but Ron interrupted her.

_We really need to get to this occlumency thing guys._

The three of them sank into the puffy chairs surrounding what Harry had already dubbed as 'their table'

Two hours later curfew was in place and the 'Gryffindor Ravens' as Hermione and Ron called them had already gone to bed. The trio had learnt a lot about how to start learning occlumens, namely meditation and various exercises before bed, but both books said that a mentor was vital. After much debate they decided to try the exercises and finish the books and deal with the mentor issue when it arose later.

Sleeping was restless now, the feeling of Hermione and Ron's mind was constricting rather than comforting and Harry was starting to long for the true solitude he was used to. It was midnight before he finally managed to dream.

* * *

Severus scowled at Minerva.

"Really they seemed normal to you? They were anything but in my class. They made three perfect potions in some contorted three way process, I still don't know who actually did what. While all three had wands on their desks Potter and Granger despaired over the need to stir their concoctions with them and Weasley used a second wand that he had hidden in a holster to do so for all three potions. I have never seen such co-operation from students, particularly newly met first years in all my days as a teacher," by the end of his rant Severus was glaring at Minerva as if asking her to tell him that all that was normal, "Not to mention the fact that they keep looking over at us like they know what we are doing."

Albus was quiet, playing with some trinket off of his desk. Severus wanted nothing more than to snatch that golden- thing out of his hands and yell at him to listen properly.

Minerva bristled, "Severus I'll admit that seems strange but nothing I've seen myself alarms me. Potter and his friends acted like normal children when confronted me as a cat and as a teacher. Potter and Granger in particular I've seen laughing together before and after whatever small tiff they engaged in this afternoon. Ron Weasley is the only one that bothers me and his behaviour has not deviated from what his parents informed me of at the start of the year."

Severus didn't bother to continue arguing with the Gryffindor Head and instead turned to the Headmaster and waited calmly for the man to drop the device before speaking.

"Albus, they know. We've all seen them stare at us. They can clearly see what is happening. The brats are probably laughing at our attempts," he sneered the last part.

Albus looked at him through his golden speckles mollifying him somewhat.

"My boy, we have no idea what it wrong with those children, if indeed anything," he added at Minerva's glare, "But the fact that we can't read their minds is worrisome and it is far more likely to be an external factor rather than the children themselves."

Severus did realise that was most likely the case but he couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was an elaborate scheme that the Potter brat started. That would be so like him, taking his mother's talents and using them in such crude Potter ways like his father.

"We should just continue watching them," Minerva's voice finally broke through his inner monologue, "There are no definite signs that they are in any danger or going to cause any. We need more time. It has only been a day."

Albus nodded, "Keep close eyes on them and try to figure out what's going on and aside from that we have no other options."

Severus sighed but agreed, he would be watching Potter like a hawk.

* * *

Yet another chapter!

Things will hopefully move much quicker from now on.

Also PLEASE check out my Drarry Oneshot. Yes it is a song fic (I normally don't like them either) but I really want some feedback. So can all you Drarry fans go to my profile and read 'Wizard Roulette' and review it. Even if you say that you hated it and I should never write a song fic again :(

As always R&R. Reviews make me HAPPY :D and I write when I'm happy.


	15. Chapter 15, Smartass Comments

Chapter 15, Smartass Comments

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

speech – non-verbal speech

'words' – written/emphasis/title

***PAGEBREAK***

The rest of the week progressed roughly with a lack of sleep and the ever present glinting eyes of the professors. The trio's friendship was still rocky. Ron could see it in Harry and Hermione's eyes, not to mention the fact that the bond had yet to settle. At this rate the red head was wondering if they could ever get back to those first few days, let alone progressing beyond that.

School work wise the classes were going well. Potions was more of a challenge now that they had to work on separate cauldrons but Ron managed to keep up, Harry and Hermione were both at the top of the class. The three of them were still all wary of Snape though.

The midnight astrology class was at least interesting but learning about the planetary effects on magic caused both Ron and Hermione headaches as Harry's mind because a whirlwind with all the new information to be absorbed into his research.

Herbology was quite the surprise as far as Ron was concerned. Hermione was enjoying the practical side of the subject much more than Ron thought she would, it seemed that she quite enjoyed practical work like gardening and sewing and potion making. He himself was loathing the subject as much as he thought he would, what with them having to interact with dangerous plants, but also succeeded at doing extraordinarily well due to his complete concentration during class.

Harry was the biggest shock though. Considering that he admitted to having done large amounts of garden work and having lived with the Professor Ron assumed that Harry would not only like the subject but do well too, he was wrong on both accounts. Harry made it abundantly clear that he detested gardening, he barely worked and whatever plants he was working with had a tendency to die. Each time Harry's plant would wither (or spontaneously catch fire or cut itself to pieces or…) Professor Sprout would get a weird expression combining annoyance, sadness and pity before ordering Harry to find a new plant. Neither Ron nor Hermione inquire further than a simple 'Alright Harry?'

Thursday and Friday mornings were free periods (though Ron knew that Thursday would eventually become the dreaded Flying lesson). Thanks to these periods they had managed to complete one of the two occlumency books and were regularly practising the exercises. They were still no solid ideas about gaining a mentor, though Hermione pointed out that they might be able to hire one if they looked for a tutor.

Eventually Friday afternoon rolled round. Ron took the time to write a second letter to his parents and another to his sister. Ron knew Harry and Hermione were using the time to catch up on the necessary texts and formulate an argument for the debate. While the three of them had agreed to regularly take place in debates only Harry elected to officially join any school teams. Harry had spent Thursday afternoon at chess club with Lisa, Terry and Morag and had come back with his mind buzzing with gossip that annoyed Hermione for hours.

Sleep was continuously rough each night, though Ron knew he was getting a lot more than Harry and Hermione. Still he was plagued with nightmares and sometime woke up shivering. Saturday morning was the worst.

Ron had been having a particularly violent dream starring Snape and McGonagall when he felt hands on him. Without thinking he snatched the knife off of his bedside and pinned his "attacker" to the mattress. Panicked ice blue met clouded emerald before Ron's brain caught up. With a gasp Ron pulled the dagger away from Harry's throat, a small red drop left behind.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry Harry," Ron hurriedly apologised.

"Sh, keep your voice down or the others will wake up. Ow, that knife isn't coated with poison is it?" Harry whispered.

"No, but wait I'll fix that cut," and with that Ron dived under his bed and pulled out a fully stocked homemade first aid kit.

"I should have known," Harry said softly gazing down as Ron pulled out a yellow tube.

Ron spread a liberal amount of thick yellow paste onto his finger, "Okay tilt your head back."

Harry did so, hissing in pain, and Ron applied the paste. After a few moments it was absorbed into the skin and the cut was gone.

"That is cool," Harry said in hushed awe.

Ron however was more concerned, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you too badly?"

Harry shook his head, "Barely hurt, just stung a little. I'm fine, I've had way worse."

Ron was a little relieved but somehow was also way more concerned; Harry had worse than being attacked with a knife?

"I'll have to remember not to try and wake you up won't I," Harry joked.

Ron didn't laugh, he just felt sick.

"I could have killed you."

Harry grinned, "But you didn't."

"Yeah, but-"

"Look Ron, I'm the boy-who-**lived** right? Not the boy-who-**died**. I'm okay seriously."

Ron nodded even though he wanted to press the issue, just who is completely calm after being attacked by their supposed friend?

"You didn't mean it right? You just reacted. I should have realised what would happen, I know you well enough."

Ron wanted to yell at Harry, to tell him that he wasn't at fault and scream at him that he didn't know anything about him. Ron didn't though, he had way too much self-preservation for that, not to mention the fact that he was kind of terrified of Harry. No Ron just faked a grin and started to gather his clothes for a shower. His nightmares were forgotten in the confusion.

***PAGEBREAK***

Hermione was awoken by a flood of panic and a sharp pain in her throat. It took her a few minutes to realise that it had just been a dream. She looked down at her watch which read 4:25. With a sigh she curled up to Albert intending to try and sleep again but was plagued by Harry and Ron's thoughts. They were hectic and confusing but Hermione gathered that they were both awake and that something strange had occurred.

Carefully she erected a barrier between herself and the boys. It was far too early in the morning to do anything but sleep or hug her teddy let alone deal with their problems. She'd ask about it later at breakfast or something.

With that thought she rolled over and started to work on occlumency exercises. This one consisted of recreating a house in your mind. The book suggested that you recreated a small building that you knew very well and not to start building original buildings off the bat. Hermione was working with her tree house back home as her real home was far too big to begin with.

Hermione started at the foot of the tree. She imagined the tree, the cubby and the ladder just as she had seen it a millions times. Ascending the ladder she stepped into the first of four rooms. Hermione didn't bother to start imagining furniture, she could fill the small house later, but made sure that every plank of wood was detailed down to the last nail.

Two more rooms and a balcony later Hermione was in the smallest and final room. This one was smaller than the others and its entrance was hidden behind some tree branches. Normally this room was furnished with a small makeshift bed and some books, it was now empty. The book said that at this point to find a secret place, or make one, and put a small chest within it.

Hermione spent ages crafting a chest that she liked; it was made of soft wood painted light blue with a star on the top.

The book then instructed to take memories and thoughts and lock them in the chest. In order to do this though, they had to be visualised. Hermione called forth every memory of her parents fighting or arguing or just not being there and solidified them. She picked up the blue bear that represented her home life and placed it gently into the box. She summoned a large padlock and sealed the bear away.

Hermione was jolted awake by two hands. In front of her was Morag, Lisa's friend.

"Um, your friends asked me to wake you up. I think they are waiting for you down stairs," the girl said with an apologetic smile.

Hermione grinned, "Thank you. Can you tell them I'll be down in a second?"

Morag nodded, "Sure."

As the shy girl left Hermione grinned, her mind felt lighter than usual.

***PAGEBREAK***

The twins sat in silence on Forge's bed in Gryffindor tower. It had been four days since "the incident", as they liked to call it, and they had not found a solution no matter how many books they combed through.

Gred groaned in frustration and threw a book at the wall, "God this is impossible!"

"Hey, we have to return that you know," Forge said with a glare.

"What does it matter, huh?" Gred asked dramatically, "They'll be able to tell! It won't be Fred and George anymore, we won't be the same! And god, how do explain which is which? We don't even know our real names!"

"You've been throwing this tantrum for days now."

Gred scowled, "So have you."

"Well I'm over it," Fred retorted.

"Since when?"

"Since now!"

"Sure," Gred muttered sarcastically.

"I am."

"Am not."

"Am too."

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"AM NOT!"

"AM TOO!"

"Will you two shut the hell up?" a third boy interjected.

"NO!" the twins yelled towards their friend Lee Jordan.

Lee shook his head, dark coloured dreadlocks bouncing in the air. He was a child model, something Gred and Forge never heard the end of, with high cheek bones and rich chocolate skin. More so than his looks he had two piercing blue-grey eyes, a common characteristic for high-class purebloods, that could cause even McGonagall to waver.

It took all of three seconds for the twins to apologise.

"Sorry, Lee, I guess," Forge muttered, not quite chastened.

Lee arched a thin eyebrow at him, "I guess? Wow, whatever you two are pissed about really has your bollocks in its mouth, don't it?"

"What does that even mean?" Forge asked, "Seriously, I sometimes wonder where the heck you get your analgises from."

Lee grinned, "My sister studied advanced literature at muggle school."

Gred glare at them both, "Well I love this little bonding chat but Fred and I have a crisis to deal with."

Forge groaned, "We've been at it for hours."

Lee smirked, "That's what she said."

"That's gross," the twins snapped in unison.

"Also what she said, but seriously, what is your problem? Can I help?"

"No!" they snapped again.

Forge continued, "It's none of your business, twin thing."

Lee shrugged and picked up his book bag, "Whatever it is I hope you guys figure it out. You've been acting like Snape the day after Dumbledore's been riding his arse."

"Urgh, mental images!" Gred screamed as Forge clutched his head in agony.

Lee chuckled, "My work is done," as he left the dorm.

***PAGEBREAK***

WOW! I updated; shock horror. Anyway, things are moving now! I'm sure everyone is glad we are no longer on the first day. I finding that I have to use Fred and George (or Gred and Forge) to balance this fic; the golden trio are just so mature and the twins, well, aren't. It's kind of fun to write snarky conversations I hope they're fun to read.

As always;

READ AND **GODRIC DAMN** REVIEW!


	16. Chapter 16, Stolen Property

Chapter 16, Stolen Property

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' – written/emphasis/title

***PAGEBREAK***

Minerva was in a foul mood as she stormed into the supposedly 'Great' Hall. Her morning had started with a commotion as the disappearance of the school's Sorting Hat was made known. The entire staff had been awoken at the crack of dawn when the Headmaster had made the discovery.

If she ever got her hands on who had stolen that hat she'd skin them alive for interrupting her sleep!

With her colleagues is such disarray, whether from shock or lack of sleep, it fell to Minerva to start the search. To be honest she had no idea of where to search but she didn't let that stop her. She went to the Headmaster's office to see if there were any clues left behind; there were none. And she went to the kitchens to ask if any of the house elves had witnessed anything but she turned up nothing of interest.

Albus had summoned Severus and herself just as she had run out of ideas and called Harry Potter and his friends, or whoever was affecting them, into suspicion. An almost absurd idea but still a better option than 'it grew legs and ran away'. She had left that meeting confused and more than a little angry at the world.

Once back at the staffroom she found out they had run out of coffee, something which in her memory had never happened before. Pomona had tried, and failed, to discuss the sorting hat's mystery relocation until Minerva had simply stood and walked away.

Finally to cap off a perfect morning she had run head first into some poor third year Hufflepuff on her way to breakfast. She had sent the boy crying in the opposite direction with a thirty point deduction from his house and a detention to be served with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest.

It had taken three hot donuts and large glass of spiked pumpkin juice, courtesy of Robin Fletcher who she knew always had some form of alcohol on his person, to stop steam from spurting out her ears. Thus faced with a (slightly) calmer attitude she finally turned her attention to the students, three in particular.

She hadn't noticed before but Ron Weasley was sitting apart from the other two, in fact he was nowhere to be seen. Granger looked terribly upset about something and Potter was consoling her. The other Ravenclaws were all leaning away from the duo uncertainly. What on earth had happened?

And then as she was looking Potter's head rose and he made eye contact.

They had caught her staring at them before, on countless circumstances, but this was different, this was more hostile. Potter's eyes flared red for the briefest of seconds before returning to their usual green. Perhaps Severus had been right all along…

***PAGEBREAK***

It was with a wide grin that Hermione greeted the boys that morning. Her light mood was engulfing her in a euphoria that the boys reacted to with surprise.

_What put the bounce in your step?_ Harry's mind inquired.

_Using those occlumency techniques I've done a little spring cleaning upstairs, _she felt Ron's confusion and elaborated, _I locked a few memories away. I can't quite recall what they were but they must have been dragging me down quite a bit cause I've never felt this good before._

_That's good, _the boys each sent as they exited the Ravenclaw Common Room.

As they walked to breakfast they fell into an easy conversation about the upcoming debate. Hermione was too wrapped up in hearing about House Elves from Harry to notice that Ron had stopped until she heard his voice.

"Hey, Fred! George!" he yelled down a hallway.

Hermione looked back in time to watch Ron's twin brothers step out and greet their younger brother.

"Ronnie? What on earth-"

"-are you-

"-doing-"

"-here?" they exclaimed in an odd speech pattern.

The one on the left smirked, "Since when do you Ravenclaw bookworms bother with trivialities such as breakfast?"

"Yeah, I thought that you didn't need food like the rest of us who are human. You survive by reading, right?" the right one teased.

Hermione was reminded rather harshly of two senior bullies at her muggle school but Ron grinned sincerely.

"How's 'Operation: Toilet Seat Extraction' going? Ginny is eagerly awaiting her gift."

The twin boys laughed.

"Are the two of you okay?" Ron asked, quite suddenly in Hermione's opinion.

The boys nodded their heads, "Course. Isn't it you lot who are supposed to get that question. First week over and all that. You've survived okay?"

Ron grinned and nodded, "Oh, by the way these are my friends Hermione and Harry. These jokers are my brothers," he said, quite unnecessarily over his shoulder.

"Ah! So these are your infamous friends!" the left one cried out.

Hermione smiled a polite hello.

"Pleasure to meet you," Harry greeted, suddenly friendly, "Ron's told us a lot about you two. The adventures the two of you get up to, it all sounds amazing. Know any good secret passages to the Great Hall?" he topped his performance off with a wink.

Hermione, who knew the real Harry, felt the urge to gag at his out of character, over friendliness with two strangers but the twins it seemed felt otherwise.

"Ah young ones, we couldn't possibly-"

"-just give away that knowledge."

"If you truly want to be great pranksters-"

"-then you have to discover these things for yourselves."

Harry grinned lazily, "Well it was worth a try."

"We can't blame you from trying-" the left one said smugly.

"-we are the most knowledgeable people to ask about the school."

Hermione held back a snort at that.

"Well short people, we are off to the library-"

"-someone needs to take up your shift. You bad little Ravenclaws-"

"-are neglecting your house given duties."

"Seeya Roniekins!"

Ron nodded at the dismissal while Harry enthusiastically waved goodbye. As soon as the two had left Harry's usual expression of indifference slipped back in place.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his attempts to charm, "I don't understand why you're bothering to try and fool them."

Harry arched an eyebrow at her, "Oh and why is that?"

"Aren't your usual victims rich or talented?" Hermione tossed back, "Ron's family isn't exactly rich or powerful, no offense to Ron."

Ron just shook his head as if to say 'none taken'.

"From everything Ron has said those two are only talented at getting in trouble. They aren't clever like us or socialites like Turpin so why bother. They don't even seem that nice; I mean what with all that 'short people' stuff and teasing us for being in Ravenclaw. They are about as useful as rocks as far as I can see."

As the words left Hermione's mouth she knew she shouldn't have said them. Anger bubbled through the link and the near non-existent sound of Ron's footsteps had stopped completely. She spun around quickly.

"I meant- Oh, Ron I didn't mean to insult-" she was cut off.

Ron clearly livid, his ears and neck bright red, ground out, "Don't ever insult my family within my hearing range again."

With that he stormed off, in the opposite direction of the Great Hall.

"Ron wait!" she called out and made to follow him.

Harry caught her arm and stopped her, "Hermione. Leave him. He needs some space right now."

"but-"

"No, Hermione," Harry insisted, "We didn't even feel the worst of his anger just the flow on effect of the link. Apologise later. We should have breakfast."

With some reluctance Hermione nodded and allowed Harry to direct her towards the Great Hall. She had managed to fight with both her new friends in just one short week; what did that bode for their long term friendship? And she had been so happy to see them this morning! Everything kept falling to pieces.

***PAGEBREAK***

"My Lord?" Quirinus asked hesitantly.

He was standing in his office, apparently alone. But in reality he was never alone anymore.

The walls were lined with his large book collection and several awards he had won due to his research papers. Cloves of garlic, solely to help his cover as a coward fearful of vampires he would swear, hung from the knob of the door, the curtain rungs and the light fixtures. He couldn't see the length of his turban lying discarded on the floor beneath his desk from his place in the doorway to his personal quarters but he knew it was there.

"Quirrell," came the rasp of his master from behind him, "what do you seek by speaking to me?"

The vague hint of a threat underlay the master's voice.

"I wish to speak of the theft of the sorting hat, My Lord. Are you aware of the culprit?" Quirinus whispered.

He had thought that the hat might be a part of some elaborate scheme of his Lord's but now, having spoken it allowed, he doubted this idea.

The Lord responded with an angry tone, "Why would the stealing of an old hat concern me. If anything you should be grateful for it. With this distraction in place it should be easier to go after the stone."

Quirinus latched on to that piece of information with a quick plan to appease his master.

"But might not the thief of the hat try to go after the stone too? Indeed the distraction might be the reason for the hat's disappearance," he offered, hoping to prove his worth.

"That is true. The hat's misplacement is probably some school prank but it might be a misdirection to draw attention from the stone. You'll have to keep your eyes open and work twice as hard to get past that the slobbering dog before anything happens to the stone," the Dark Lord droned, "if someone steals the stone before me I'll have your head Quirrell."

"Yes, My Lord. Of course, My Lord," Quirinus said with relief.

"Now Quirrell, get us ready for bed," his Lord ordered.

Quirinus rushed to do as he bid.

***PAGEBREAK***

Hi, I know is has been such a long time since my last update. Sorry. Thank you ever so much for all of you still reviewing and prompting me to write. I might have forgotten about this story if it wasn't for you (which would be terrible considering that I love writing it!).

I'm hoping to have another (longer!) chapter out soon so remember to review! And oh gosh, I can't believe how early in the term we still are.


	17. Chapter 17, Without Debate

Chapter 17, Without Debate

"speech" – speech  
^speech^ - parseltongue

_speech_ – non-verbal speech

'words' – written/emphasis/title

***PAGEBREAK***

Harry dragged Hermione towards the Great Hall. He could feel her mind clawing at his own. She was seeking comfort, understanding and forgiveness from Ron, and with him and his mind absent, had decided to use Harry as a surrogate.

Harry had no experience in giving those things to others and so fell back on his most used talents, faking sympathy and lying about interests. Or faking interest and lying about sympathies, either or.

"It'll be okay Hermione, you'll see. Ron will calm down and you can apologise and you'll be friends again," he said soothingly.

"But I was so mean about his brothers? What if he never forgives me?" Hermione bemoaned.

Harry fought his eyes, which were threatening to roll at the overdramatise antics of the girl, "He'll forgive you."

"I'm just a bad friend! First I fight with you and now with Ron. I'm clearly not meant to have friends… I'm unlikeable!" she wailed.

Some passing Gryffindors looked at them weirdly and Harry decided to take a different route.

Pulling Hermione into a hug, something Harry would normally avoid like the plague, he stroked her hair back and whispered into her ear, "You are a good friend," he casted about his mind a fact that might prove that to her, "You care about people. The fact that you are so upset at yourself for upsetting Ron is proof of how good a friend you are. It shows that you care about his feelings."

Hermione sobbed into his shoulder and with some disgust Harry realised that she was crying all over his robes. With a deep breath to help him ignore this fact he pressed on.

"Besides, I like you. I might not always agree with you but I do like you. You are smart and strong. Please don't be upset."

Hermione pulled back with a blotchy face and tear tracks down her cheeks but she was smiling, "thank you Harry. Thank you so much. We can go to breakfast now but can you help me if I fall apart again? I'm new to this friendship thing and, well, not so great at it."

Harry nodded, relieved that she was no longer weeping and clinging to him, "You just need some practise."

They continued on their way to the Great Hall. They were a bit later than normal but breakfast wouldn't be over for a long while yet.

***PAGEBREAK***

Gred swore and kicked Forge's bed.

"Get up you great clown!"

Forge moaned into his pillow, "Go away."

"Get the hell up, I've figured it out!"

Gred chuckled as Forge rolled over and quickly sat up.

"You did! How?"

"We need some sort of voice changing potion or charm. Something temporary for now until we can figure out something more permanent," Gred said proud of his find.

Forge frowned, "That's not really a solution. More like a delay."

Gred rolled his eyes, "It's better than spending all day reading obscure books at random hoping something pops out at us."

Forge slowly rose from his bed, "I guess this means another trip to the library."

Gred smiled at his twin, "You bet."

After a quick shower and a change of clothes the twins were heading towards the Ravenclaw side of the castle. They called it the Ravenclaw side because every morning and evening all the Ravenclaws would be flowing through that area, either because of their common room entrance or the library. So it was no shock to them when their little brother called out;

"Hey, Fred! George!"

With a shared look of exasperation they put on their normal bubbly personalities. It wouldn't do for someone, especially their all to serious brother, to realise something was off.

"Ronnie? What on earth-" Gred started.

Forge took up the sentence with, "-are you-

"-doing-"

"-here?" they finished together.

Gred smirked down at his brother and said the first vaguely teasing thing he could think of, "Since when do you Ravenclaw bookworms bother with trivialities such as breakfast?"

Forge gave him a quick look of 'that's what we're going with?' but continued the mockery anyway, "Yeah, I thought that you didn't need food like the rest of us who are human. You survive by reading, right?"

Gred winced at their lacklustre banter. Where was their usual wit hiding?

"How's 'Operation: Toilet Seat Extraction' going? Ginny is eagerly awaiting her gift."

Gred laughed with relief something they could work with. There was a thousand toilet related jokes they could rely on. A weird flicker went across Forges face but before he could throw a questioning look their little brother was on it.

"Are the two of you okay?" Ron asked.

Gred quickly nodded, cursing Ron for being so observant.

Forge luckily redirected, "Course. Isn't it you lot who are supposed to get that question. First week over and all that. You've survived okay?"

When Ron grinned, Gred breathed a sigh of relief alongside his brother. Thank Merlin for small miracles.

"Oh, by the way these are my friends Hermione and Harry. These jokers are my brothers."

Gred, realising that, yes, there were two others behind his brother for the first time, grinned widely like a Cheshire cat and exclaimed, "Ah! So these are your infamous friends!"

It was true that they were infamous in the Weasley house what with their mother's mutterings and their father's vague interest in them. Two muggle raised friends was always going to noticed, ones that owled at all hours were definitely going to be talked about. And that was without mentioning that one of them was the bloody boy-who-lived!

The shy girl, Hermione, gave a small smile that looked more like a grimace. Harry however greeted them with enthusiasm.

"Pleasure to meet you. Ron's told us a lot about you two. The adventures the two of you get up to, it all sounds amazing. Know any good secret passages to the Great Hall?" and then he winked.

Forge gave Gred a small gesture as if to say 'this guy is way cool'. And he couldn't help but agree. But there was a code to adhere to.

"Ah young ones, we couldn't possibly-" Gred said knowing that Forge would pick up on the enforcing of the prankster code.

"-just give away that knowledge."

"If you truly want to be great pranksters-"

"-then you have to discover these things for yourselves."

Gred gave Harry a 'bad luck mate' smile and clapped his shoulder.

Harry smiled back at him, "Well it was worth a try."

And if that sentence didn't prove that Harry Potter was a prankster at heart Gred didn't what would.

"We can't blame you from trying-"

"-we are the most knowledgeable people to ask about the school."

Gred winked at Forge for dropping the subtle hint about the map, nothing like showing off your superiority without the other party in question even realising it. Speaking of the map perhaps young Harry could become a part of the new Marauders just like them, of course they'd include Ron and the girl. He'd have to mention it to Forge sometime.

"Well short people, we are off to the library-" Forge said obviously deciding they had wasted enough book time with the firsties.

"-someone needs to take up your shift. You bad little Ravenclaws-"

"-are neglecting your house given duties."

"Seeya Roniekins!"

With a wave back at Ron, his shy friend and his friendly one, the twins carried on their way to the library. It wasn't lost on Gred that their fake cheerfulness had been transformed into real happiness. He had a good feeling about their voice changing plans.

Once in the library Gred let Forge handle finding the books. Instead he made his way over to Percy's usual table. The last time they had been in the library, yesterday to return their books, they had found him and Adam practically buried in books. George picked up 'Godric Gryffindor, the Man and the Legend' and looked up a Percy, who seemed annoyed that he was touching the book.

"This yours or your boyfriend's?" he asked casually.

Adam, for once, appeared to be absent from the table and so the jib was not quite as effective as it could have been, however it still made Percy splutter and blush a dull red colour.

"He's not my boyfriend. We're study partners. Though I was wondering who started that rumour. I should have guessed," Percy hissed.

That had been revenge, Percy had dobbed them in on a prank against Quirrell, it was only right they get him back.

Gred chuckled nastily, "didn't answer my question, Percy."

Percy snatched the book out of his hands, "Mine, thank you very much. Now go bother someone else."

Gred ignored him and lent over a massive pile of books to look at his parchment, "What's that?"

Percy covered the writing with 'Strange Powers You Never Knew You Had!' and scowled, "Nothing."

"Love note," Gred concluded, "Has Adam popped the question yet."

"Get lost Fred," Percy snarled.

"Actually I'm George."

"I don't care which one you are, just leave me alone."

Gred had to chuckle at the way Percy was desperately stopping himself from yelling in a library.

At that moment Forge entered the scene, "Fred, I got the books. Oh hello Percy, where's your boyfriend?"

Percy turned a strange violet colour, as Gred held back his laughter. He could almost feel the steam coming off of his older brother. Actually he wouldn't be surprised if Percy melted from the stress of keeping his anger contained. It might seem like a little thing to go nuts over, but Gred and Forge had been mentioning Adam like this since the second day of school. Usually four or five times a day in library where Percy couldn't rage at them. Sometime soon he was sure to snap.

"Five points from Gryffindor each for disturbing a prefect who is trying to study and five more for insulting other students. Now get the hell out," Percy snapped.

No longer holding the laughter in Gred broke down.

As they left, still chuckling, Forge had the presence of mind to call back, "Is your boyfriend holding out on you Percy? You'd reckon being 'Head' boy and all…" he trailed off suggestively.

Gred quickly pulled Forge out of the library before Percy hexed him.

Lending against the wall just outside the library Gred grinned at Forge, who was struggling to keep hold of the books in his arms whilst laughing.

"That was awesome!"

***PAGEBREAKER***

Harry guided Hermione into her seat and began piling her plate with food. Hermione mumbled a quick thanks and a small smile. Harry inwardly sighed to himself; it was almost pathetic how much Hermione cared about other's opinions, to let them get her like this.

"Eat," Harry commanded.

Luckily Hermione obeyed without hesitation.

"Are you alright?" asked Morag shyly.

Hermione responded with a harsh glare that made Morag shirk back.

Harry almost laughed but shook the urge.

Instead he gave Morag a warm smile and said, "Hermione isn't feeling very well. It's best just to give her space."

Harry had to warn a few others who tried to console Hermione. As each one met the same fate eventually the whole table just gave Hermione and him a wide berth. Harry would be annoyed at this out casting if it weren't clear that the table would be talking to him without the 'emotional baggage'.

"Ron will forgive me right? I didn't say anything too terrible?" Hermione asked for the fifth time.

Harry fought the instinct to throttle her and simply stroked her hair again. She seemed to calm down a bit every time he did it.

Harry didn't know why he did it, sheer coincidence most likely, but he glanced up at just the right angle to meet McGonagall's eyes. Green hawk like eyes studied him and Hermione, just like they had all week, and suddenly Harry felt himself hating it. It might have been a sudden break in Ron's mental wall, it might have been a surge in hormones or it might have been the straw that broke the camel's back but Harry found himself suddenly livid. And then his head started to hurt. He looked away.

He couldn't stop himself from rubbing his temple and hissing in pain.

"Are you okay Harry?"

Harry looked over and saw the concerned brown eyes of Hermione gazing at him in surprise. So she hadn't felt anything from Ron… or him. He had erected a mental barrier against long ago, what with her clingy mental state. Good thing too. Now he just had stop himself taking his anger out on Hermione.

"Nothing, just a head ache," he replied curtly.

Hermione frowned, "Worse than before?"

Briskly he nodded.

Hermione wiped a red eye, "You should go to the Hospital Wing then."

Harry shook his head, "what about you. Or the debate."

"I'll survive. And I don't think Ron or I will make the debate anyway. We'll just have to do without."

"But Hermione-"

She cut him off and Harry actually twitched with the urge to hit her. This rage fit was going to ruin everything.

"Does its still hurt?" when he nodded biting his lip and she continued, "Then go. You need to be fit for class next week."

Harry stood with his fist tightly clenched by his sides, "Are you-"

"Yes I'm sure. Go."

He head was getting worse and he was afraid he would do something stupid like yell at Hermione or curse her. So Harry gave Hermione a smile and mumbled thanks before taking off for the Hospital Wing.

He made it to the second floor and his headache, and irrational anger, was ebbing. He started to feel a little guilty about leaving Hermione behind.

"Harry!" a voice called out.

Harry spun around to see Draco leaning against a wall, casual as can be.

"Hello Draco," Harry replied, the last of his fury abating quickly, "What are you up to?"

Draco sighed, "Not much. Where are your usual two flunkies?"

Harry grinned despite the twinge of annoyance caused by the insult to his friends, "I could say the same thing."

Draco grinned back, "Do you want to test some duelling spells? My father just bought me a new book, it's pretty good."

And that was why he continued these pretences.

"Sure Draco, sound brilliant."

***PAGEBREAK***

Like most of my updates this seems to be a double whammy. So here is chapter 17 on the same night as chapter 16. Also keeping to tradition it is about three in the morning so its late night/early morning posting as per usual.

Sorry if the last (or this) chapter is a little erm… blunt? Forced? Abrupt?... something like that. Hopefully that will relax over the next few chapters.

As always please, please, please review. Just a few words to keep a poor muse fed.


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